BCG, Precision Development call for stronger delivery units to scale digital farming in Africa

AFRICA – A new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Precision Development urges governments across Africa and other low and middle income countries to invest in Digital Agriculture Units to move from policy plans to real results for farmers.

In the report titled From Strategy to Scale: Why Delivery Matters in Digital Agriculture, the authors state that digital agriculture could generate up to US$500 billion in additional agricultural GDP each year if proven tools expand beyond pilot stages.

However, they note that many countries have digital strategies but lack the teams and systems to carry them out.

The report shows that smallholder farmers still face major gaps in access to advice, credit, and market information. Simple tools such as SMS advisory services, voice response systems, and mobile farmer registries help address these gaps. As systems grow, tools such as AI based weather updates and digital credit scoring can further improve farm decisions.

In East Africa, the Virtual Agronomist platform provides digital advisory services at about one tenth of the cost of traditional extension services. The programme has helped farmers increase yields by 1.4 to 1.9 times in crops such as maize, rice, sunflower, and sorghum.

Low adoption and funding gaps

Despite this progress, adoption remains low. Fewer than 15 percent of smallholder farmers worldwide use digital agriculture tools. Between 2019 and 2021, countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development invested US$17 billion in digital agriculture infrastructure, which equals just 2 percent of total agricultural spending.

The report warns that limited funding and weak coordination prevent many pilot projects from expanding. It highlights Digital Agriculture Units, or DAUs, as a practical way to close this gap. These units sit within governments or national programmes and focus on planning investments, coordinating partners, supporting delivery, and tracking results.

“Across countries, we see the same persistent gap between strategy and delivery, not because plans are weak, but because dedicated delivery capacity is missing,” said Zoë Karl-Waithaka, Managing Director and Partner at BCG Nairobi.

“To turn ambition into real impact, we need teams that can coordinate actors, align incentives, troubleshoot implementation, and drive results.”

Designing units that work

The report explains that design choices shape how well DAUs perform. Governments must decide where to place the unit, who it reports to, whether it coordinates or implements projects, and how it secures funding and technical skills.

In Ethiopia and India, DAUs sit within agriculture ministries and report to senior leaders. In Benin, a minister led steering committee guides the work, supported by a technical committee that includes civil society.

“Digital tools can only deliver impact for farmers when they are embedded in systems that are built to scale,” said Habtamu Yesigat, Director of Programmes for Ethiopia at Precision Development. “Digital Agriculture Units provide the delivery backbone governments need to move from isolated pilots to national platforms that reach millions of smallholder farmers.”

The authors conclude that as pressure on food systems grows, governments must invest in clear mandates, strong teams, and long term financing to ensure digital agriculture delivers real gains for farmers.

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