One year into AgriConnect: what we're learning in Africa

Africa has long been regarded as the world’s next breadbasket. It has abundant arable land, fast growing demand, and a vibrant business environment that could provide jobs for millions of young people entering the labor market each year. Yet, Africa’s agricultural potential is still largely untapped. The continent imports large amounts of food while critical gaps, from energy and irrigation to finance and digital services, hamper productivity and investment. Closing this gap will require $180 billion in investment - and coordinated action across infrastructure, policies and private capital. That is the challenge we set out to address. A year ago, the World Bank Group and IFAD, together with a coalition of development and private sector partners, launched AgriConnect with an ambitious goal: connect 300 million family and smallholder farmers globally to markets, finance and agricultural services by 2030. Our goal is to strengthen the entire ecosystem around farmers. More productive, resilient farms and better-functioning markets can produce wider economic gains, from more power, storage and processing to stronger credit and insurance markets - and ultimately more and better jobs. One year on, Africa is leading the way: half of the first 10 AgriConnect country compacts were launched in Africa, and together IFAD and the World Bank Group have already reached at least 10 million farmers with targeted investment. That is an encouraging start, but reaching the scale required will demand a different way of working. The first year has highlighted four lessons that should help shape the next phase of AgriConnect, and the wider conversation on agricultural transformation: First, meaningful change in the food sector depends on connecting investments across the entire economy. In Angola, for example, the new Compact envisions using a 1,300-kilometer railway connecting the mineral-rich Copperbelt of the DRC and Zambia to Angola’s Port of Lobito to connect farmers and cooperatives to storage, processing and international trade routes. The corridor runs through four of Angola’s major agricultural provinces—linking farmers to markets, cutting post-harvest losses and strengthening food security by improving the flow of crops like maize, soybeans and rice. The broader lesson is that major infrastructure investments should be designed from the outset to generate opportunities for farmers and agribusinesses along the corridor, not only to move commodities through it. Second, we need to lower barriers to entry to infrastructure, services, finance and markets specifically for small-scale farmers, women and young rural entrepreneurs if we are to achieve broad-based rural economic growth. This is where the partnership between IFAD and the World Bank Group can add distinct value. IFAD brings deep experience in working with small-scale producers and strengthening inclusive rural institutions at the first mile of food systems. The World Bank Group brings policy engagement, public and private financing, infrastructure and support for investment at scale. Working through government-led programs allows these capabilities to reinforce each other rather than operate as separate interventions. In Ethiopia’s lowlands, for instance, our two institutions have pooled their strengths for years under one government program, helping 825,000 pastoralists obtain training and advice, and another 2.7 million people in their communities to access broader markets and social services. But to succeed globally, we’ll need to draw on expertise beyond our institutions, from science and private sector innovation to new technologies and data. We’re growing our partner network to bring the right people, ideas and resources to the table. Third, we have seen how important it is to engage with private lenders and investors, to make sure that banks, insurers, and other key actors in agricultural and rural finance – including value chain actors like suppliers and processors – work in ways that create opportunities for small-scale farmers and rural entrepreneurs. Togo is taking this on directly. Under AgriConnect, the country will aim to mobilize more than $100 million in private capital and raise agriculture’s share of bank lending from around 1.2% to 5%. To get there, the country is investing in digital public infrastructure and financial tools to unlock agricultural finance: digital farmer registries, insurance, warehouse financing, credit guarantees and a new fund to give banks confidence to lend. Fourth, programs must be designed to scale. That means identifying what works early, creating the right policy, institutional and commercial conditions for investments to grow, and enabling countries to adopt and adapt. AgriConnect addresses this through six scalable areas: AgTech, innovative finance, farmer cooperatives, infrastructure, policy reform, and skills, extension and research. As more countries and partners join, we can learn faster and take successful approaches to scale. The next phase must move from shared ambition to coordinated delivery. And for that, we need more partners at the table—MDBs, knowledge institutions, investors and others willing to bring ideas, expertise and capital to the challenge. AgriConnect is a World Bank Group initiative implemented in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Google and Bayer.