Powering Agriculture: Unlocking Africa’s Next Green Revolution

The document highlights the 'value-addition gap' in African agriculture, where low productivity and lack of post-harvest processing limit economic growth. Using Uganda as a case study, it argues that the deployment of solar mini-grids can displace inefficient diesel mills and enable village-level agro-processing. To succeed, the author recommends that the AU-EU partnership focus on reforming cooperative structures to aggregate produce, increasing access to micro- and commercial finance for smallholders, and providing accessible micro-enterprise training to reduce post-harvest losses and improve rural employment.

• Africa has the lowest agricultural productivity per capita globally, largely due to under-investment in smallholder farmers, who produce 85% of sub-Saharan Africa's agricultural output despite 75% using only hand tools and only 5% of land being irrigated.
• There is a significant 'value-addition gap' in African agriculture; only $40 per ton of value is added post-harvest, which is one-fifth of the value added in high-income countries.
• Electricity demand in the agricultural sector is expected to double by 2030, with thirteen major value chains in sub-Saharan Africa projected to represent 6GW of demand.
• In Uganda, more than 60% of maize croplands can be served most cost-effectively by mini-grids, and over half of these areas currently lack known milling capacity.
• Financial constraints severely hinder Ugandan farmers, with over 60% of maize farmers unable to afford any cash inputs for their farms.
• Poor post-harvest handling in Uganda results in the loss of approximately 30% of annual maize production, valued at roughly half a million tonnes or $4.5 million.
• The World Bank estimates that annual post-harvest grain losses in sub-Saharan Africa are valued at approximately $4 billion, exceeding the total food aid received by the continent over the last decade.

APA

SHIRLEY, R. (2020). Powering Agriculture: Unlocking Africa’s Next Green Revolution. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Policy-Briefing-207-shirley.pdf

Chicago

SHIRLEY, REBEKAH. Powering Agriculture: Unlocking Africa’s Next Green Revolution. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2020. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Policy-Briefing-207-shirley.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=SHIRLEY |first1=REBEKAH |title=Powering Agriculture: Unlocking Africa’s Next Green Revolution |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=August 2020 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Policy-Briefing-207-shirley.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{shirley2020powering, author = {SHIRLEY, REBEKAH}, title = {{Powering Agriculture: Unlocking Africa’s Next Green Revolution}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2020}, month = aug, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Policy-Briefing-207-shirley.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }