African agriculture: An untapped resource for global food security – and for agribusinesses

Earlier this month, Bayer had the honour of opening a new state-of-the-art seed facility in Zambia – a truly joyful event, and one that exemplifies how private sector investment can fast-track international development, while also generating value for farmers and our shareholders (a win-win-win, if you will). My colleagues attending the launch in the town of Kabwe welcomed President Hakainde Hichilema , who emphasized unequivocally that it is through investments that the country’s economy will grow, to the benefit of its citizens. He also emphasized that agriculture will play a pivotal role in his country’s growth story and stated that he wants Zambia to do more than just feed itself – he wants to produce surplus to export.

This is not only a hugely exciting signal for anyone who thinks about global food security, but it should be music to the ears of agribusinesses around the world – because Zambia and its neighbours’ booming populations and untapped agricultural potential offer huge opportunities. Africa is home to 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, with favourable climatic conditions, and where agricultural value chains serve as a livelihood for at least 50% of the workforce. The continent also has a vast pool of labour (and thus of consumers), with the population in sub-Saharan Africa in particular set to double to 2 billion by 2050, driven almost exclusively by an increase among the young. Zambia, although one of the smaller countries in the region, still adheres to this trend: its working-age population is projected to expand by over 10 million by 2050, offering a huge “youth dividend”; as Joe Studwell writes in How Asia Works, rapidly rising working-age populations facilitated unprecedented growth in now-prospering east Asian countries (Studwell also robustly demonstrates how farming, with the right policies in place, is one of the most powerful economic accelerators for developing countries).

The incredible resources enjoyed by African countries like Zambia can and must be harnessed by the private sector – to the benefit of both the host countries and the investors themselves.

The key to harnessing this potential is in improving farm productivity, currently the single biggest constraint on sub-Saharan Africa’s agricultural sector. The drivers of the continent's disproportionately low crop yields are summarized by Vaclav Smil in his new book, How to Feed the World, and include a reliance on rain-fed farming despite erratic rainfall and drought (a constraint which President Hichilema also highlighted in his opening speech in Kabwe), limited access to quality inputs and pest/disease control, and inefficient or lacking infrastructure.

Improving agricultural productivity is not a unique or even new challenge: crop yields were low in all countries at relatively recent points in history, even in Europe, the UK and the US, regions which today have the highest cereal yields in the world. Things changed primarily because of innovation (the Green Revolution, technological advances) – and because farmers had access to that innovation. Significant opportunities lie in Africa’s still-untapped agricultural potential for companies who help open up access to innovation. Particularly important are the smallholder farmers who contribute up to 70% of the continent’s food supply, and have a clear need for targeted and locally executed solutions.

Seed quality is the cornerstone of agricultural productivity

The first solution I will explore is, aptly, the origin of all crops: the seeds themselves. High-quality seeds (those bred for resilience, pest resistance, and adaptability to local climates) can significantly enhance crop yields, improving both food security and economic development. See for instance, the 2021 review associating a 10% increase in the adoption rate of modern seed varieties with a 15% increase in GDP per capita in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, high quality seeds intensify production on farmland, improving land productivity and preventing substantial areas of land from being converted to agriculture. However, Africa’s smallholder farmers can often struggle to access these seeds, constrained by the products’ high costs, limited availability, and insufficient distribution networks. As a result, less than 20% of Africa’s farmed land is cultivated with improved seed varieties, with smallholders instead relying on recycled seed collected from their own crops, or exchanged or bought locally.

Businesses and governments must collaborate to bridge this gap – for instance via public-private partnerships that establish seed banks and subsidized distribution systems tailored to local needs. At Bayer, we have already seen how successful this kind of collaboration can be, after we partnered with the Kenya-based African Agricultural Technology Foundation and international researchers on drought- and pest-resistant TELA maize. The Kenyan government then purchased TELA maize seeds and distributed them for free to farmers around the country. The project made business sense for Bayer, while substantially improving outcomes for farmers.

By fostering networks of local seed producers, businesses can ensure that quality seeds are both accessible and affordable, empowering farmers to cultivate more productive and sustainable fields – and of course also opening up new markets for distribution of their products. The new Bayer seed site in Zambia, which I mentioned earlier in this article, is a great example of this. Named Itaba – which means “maize” in Bemba, one of the local languages – the EUR 32 million site represents the second-largest German investment in Zambia, and will focus on high-yielding hybrid seeds. With a benchmark processing technology, seeds produced on-site will reach 6.4 million smallholders (3.7 million more than in 2024) and grow enough maize to feed over 30 million people in the country. We are extremely excited about the commercial rewards of this project, which triples our conventional maize seed production in Zambia and contributes to our overall growth strategy in Africa, where the seed market is projected to reach almost USD 4 billion by 2030. And we are also excited about how it will increase farmers’ productivity and contribute to our “hunger for none” vision: the quality of these seeds is so high that farmers can be confident they need only plant one kernel per hole in order to successfully germinate a crop (standard practice in the region is to plant two or even three seeds per hole – which in turn of course means farmers need to use significantly more seeds). Moreover, these hybrid seeds are far more resilient to erratic weather patterns, pests and diseases, and yield maize with more kernels per cob. An investment that boosts farmers’ livelihoods, strengthens Zambia’s agricultural and food security ecosystem, while promising significant rewards for our bottom line – my CEO, Bill, was right in describing Itaba as a “beacon of progress”.

Knowledge is power

Quality inputs mean nothing, however, if farmers cannot get the best out of them. A solid understanding of best practices in planting, pest management, and soil health, as well as a working knowledge of game-changing innovations and technologies, can dramatically improve crop yields. Yet among many smallholders in Africa, knowledge and techniques are often outdated. 60% of African soils are depleted due to poor fertilizer use and unsustainable practices, while another study suggested 75% of farmers in Kenya rely on outdated practices. While this is likely in part driven by financial factors (I will discuss this below), it is partly due to a gap in knowledge – which, if overcome, would substantially improve food security; World Bank data suggests closing the “knowledge gaps” among smallholders in Africa could increase the continent’s maize production by up to 75%. But education programmes for farmers must be tailored to smallholders’ needs, first and foremost by removing the logistical barriers two-thirds of farmers cite as factors that make attending training sessions impossible. Mobile-based learning platforms, for instance, can deliver tailored, region-specific content directly to farmers' phones (mobile phone penetration is growing rapidly across Sub-Saharan Africa, making online training increasingly effective). For farmers who cannot make use of digital connectivity, governments can also establish agricultural extension services that provide hands-on training and mentorship. Businesses can support IRL training efforts by offering training, possibly in collaboration with local organizations in order to best adapt their sessions to local environmental conditions. At Bayer, we have seen impressive results in several African countries from our Bayer Safe Use Ambassador stewardship scheme, our BayG.A.P. Service Program, and our partnership with the Better Life Farming alliance, all of which equip farmers digitally and on the ground with practical knowledge.

Trained farmers are not just better stewards and more effective producers – they are also an asset for agribusinesses. Their more up-to-date knowledge makes them likelier to adopt new technologies, opening up a previously untapped market for companies playing in this arena – and their improved outcomes boost their ability to invest further, making them even more attractive customers. At Bayer, we are seeking to harness this potential: looking again to Zambia, we will soon collaborate with Ministry of Agriculture (as well as the World Bank) on an initiative building on the Irrigation Development and Support Project (IDSP), through which farmers have received training support, access to irrigation infrastructure and water use management training. Our intention is to work with these trained farmers and provide offtake for their production, creating new sources of revenue both for them and for Bayer.

Financing undergirds smallholders’ access to the right solutions

To address the elephant in the room: in order for farmers in Africa to fully access the tools I suggest above, the staggering US$75 billion financing gap in the continent’s farming sector needs more, and better, solutions. Financing is a game-changer, particularly for smallholder farmers, enabling them to overcome financial bottlenecks, and invest in the seeds, fertilizers, tools, and other inputs that drive higher yields. However, traditional financial institutions often view smallholder farmers as high-risk borrowers, leaving them underserved. While governments can help overcome this particular obstacle by offering credit guarantees to encourage larger banks to lend to smallholders, this is not a silver bullet: many smallholders are deterred by a lack of financial literacy, past defaults, or (valid) concerns banks may still impose high interest rates or rigid repayment terms. In addition, therefore, innovative financing models are needed, such as microloans, mobile-based credit platforms, and agricultural cooperatives. So are tailored financial products, such as pay-as-you-harvest schemes, which align repayment schedules with farmers' income cycles. And thinking more broadly about financing, the Bayer Foundation recently teamed up with the Pula Foundation to provide insurance coverage for 10 million smallholder farmers across Africa and Asia, with the aim of safeguarding smallholder farmers’ investments in their farms by providing compensation for yield losses. This will help strengthen climate resilience, by enabling smallholders to continue investing and farming with confidence, despite the increasing prevalence of drought and flooding. Schemes like these that roll out and improve access to financing can empower smallholder farmers to invest in their farms, increase productivity, and build a more secure future for themselves and their communities. It is also a no-brainer for companies to build a more resilient financial backdrop for African farmers – a huge and diverse range of potential customers, whose value will only grow as the sector matures.

Good for food security, good for farmers, good for the world

This year, African countries are projected to spend over 110 billion USD on food imports (ten times more than at the beginning of the century), a dependency that drives food insecurity, undermines the continent’s economic growth – and shows there is a huge gap in the market for agribusinesses that can help boost the productivity of domestic farmers. Improving agricultural inputs, sharing knowledge and contributing to more robust financing mechanisms in developing countries is not philanthropy – it is good business sense.