Abstract
Smallholder farmers produce much of Africa's food, yet their yields and incomes remain low, and digital technologies are widely promoted as a way to close the gap. This paper reviews the evidence on how digital technology adoption affects smallholder productivity in Africa, what prevents adoption, and what policy should do. It sets out a four-step framework (access, sustained use, behaviour change, economic outcome) and separates evidence on adoption from evidence on impact.
The review finds that benefits are real but modest. A 2025 meta-analysis of phone-mediated agricultural technology scaling found pooled gains of about 2% in yields and 5% in profit, with adoption much higher when phones were combined with traditional extension; a Kenyan SMS trial reported 11.5% higher yields. Mobile phone rollout in Mozambique reduced maize price dispersion by 4.5% to 7%, but the share reaching farmers is unclear, and information did not raise farm-gate prices in Niger. Equipment-sharing platforms and AI advisory such as Farmer.Chat show strong usage but no measured impact yet, with a 600-village trial in Kenya running to 2027. The main barriers are the cost of data and handsets, a 29% mobile internet gender gap in sub-Saharan Africa, limited skills and trust, gaps in local-language content, and missing credit, inputs and competitive markets. The paper recommends blending digital and human extension, making access affordable, designing for women and the poorest, investing in local content, bundling information with inputs and finance, protecting farmers' data, and requiring impact evaluation.
Keywords
digital agriculture; smallholder farmers; technology adoption; agricultural productivity; Africa; mobile phones; AI advisory; policy
References
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