We discuss recent trends in agricultural productivity in Africa and highlight how technological progress and innovation in agriculture has stagnated on the continent. Within this VoxDevLit, we briefly review the literature that tries to explain this stagnation through the lens of particular constraints to technology adoption. Ultimately, none of these constraints alone can explain these trends.
New research highlights pervasive heterogeneity in the gross and net returns to agricultural technologies across Africa, potentially explaining the challenges of agricultural technology adoption in developing countries. We argue that this heterogeneity makes the adoption process more challenging, limits the scope of many innovations, and contributes to the stagnation in technology use. We conclude with directions for policy and what we feel are still important, unanswered research questions surrounding the adoption and innovation of agricultural technology within Africa.
Senior Editor Christopher Udry recently joined our podcast to discuss the latest version of this review. Listen here to this discussion about harnessing technology to boost African agriculture.
Agricultural Technology in Africa: Presentation of key takeaways from Issue 1
For our launch event in 2022, Tavneet Suri and Chris Udry joined us to outline the key takeaways from Issue 1 of this VoxDevLit on Africa and agriculture, highlighting policy relevant results from research on the latest agricultural technology in Africa.
