What is the biggest challenge on Africa's path to agricultural transformation?

What is the biggest challenge on Africa's path to agricultural transformation? Africa's path to food sovereignty: investing in people, power, and politics, according to the Togolese minister. "Africa can achieve food sovereignty by investing in people, young people, and women, investing in skills, combining entrepreneurship with innovation, and creating real opportunities," said Mila Aziablé, Togo's Minister of Water and Sanitation, at the UN Food Systems Summit "Stocktake +4" in Addis Ababa. Effective policies play a critical role in accelerating food system transformation, she said. The biggest challenge on Africa's path to agricultural transformation is the slow and limited commercialization and scaling of agricultural technologies, as well as systemic constraints such as inadequate infrastructure, limited access to high-quality inputs, weak market development, and insufficient government support. Despite available innovations—such as improved seeds, irrigation, and storage technologies—many smallholder farmers cannot afford them on a large scale. This leads to low productivity and hampers broad-based agribusiness growth. Additional critical bottlenecks include: – Lack of rural infrastructure (roads, energy, water) and input distribution systems that connect farmers to markets and reduce post-harvest losses. – Fragmented and underdeveloped agricultural ecosystems and market structures, exacerbated by limited access to finance and weak policy frameworks. – Impacts of climate change (unpredictable weather, drought), land degradation, and water scarcity, which threaten sustainability and yields. – Challenges regarding land tenure and legal rights for large-scale agriculture, which limit investment and scale-up. Overall, the transformation requires coordinated efforts to increase productivity, improve market systems, expand infrastructure, promote investment, and strengthen governance and private sector engagement. Supporting the public sector to create enabling environments and mobilize investment is critical for scaling this progress and unlocking Africa's agricultural potential. The core challenge, therefore, is to close the gap between innovation and agricultural commercialization on the ground and to achieve scale-up in a complex environment of infrastructural, financial, climatic, and institutional constraints.   @https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Generic-Documents/Feed_Africa-_Strategy_for_Agricultural_Transformation_in_Africa_2016-2025.pdf @https://www.kearney.com/documents/291362523/291364838/Africas+Agricultural+Transformation+Opportunity.pdf/e51ad72e-99de-2cac-7512-e0f93398819a?t=1580148305000 @https://fspnafrica.org/international-policy-ep25-malabo-declaration-the-race-to-transform-food-system-by-2025-can-africa-meet-its-goals/ @https://acetforafrica.org/research-and-analysis/insights-ideas/commentary/agricultural-transformation-in-africa-the-myths-key-issues-and-the-new-pathway/ @https://www.aatf-africa.org/why-commercialization-is-key-to-africas-agricultural-transformation/ @https://thriveagric.com/resources/hectare/top-5-challenges-with-agriculture-in-africa-and-how-thrive-agric-is-tackling-them @https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/06/science-based-strategy-key-africa-agricultural-transformation/ @https://www.dudutech.com/659-2/ @https://emergingag.com/acat-2025-addressing-the-agricultural-imperative/ @https://farmonaut.com/africa/5-key-steps-for-resilient-african-agriculture-and-food-systems