Transforming African agricultural markets through digital innovations: What we (do not) know

Abay, Kibrom A.; Abate, Gashaw Tadesse; Chamberlin, Jordan; Kassim, Yumna; Spielman, David J.; and Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul, Jr. 2022. Transforming African agricultural markets through digital innovations: What we (do not) know. MENA Policy Note 21. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.135075.

This policy note synthesizes the key messages and lessons from existing evidence and trends in the development, deployment and scale up of ICT-enabled marketing tools. It is based on the recently published discussion paper titled “Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there”. Key messages • Many digital innovations have been developed and deployed in recent years in Africa, many of which have only been implemented at pilot stages, with limited evidence of successful scaling. • There remains significant marketing and institutional constraints hindering the development of some of these digital innovations, which may further explain disparate progress in countries. • Differential access to digital innovations across genders and different typologies of households may trigger alternative variants of digital divide. • Although the landscape of digital innovations in Africa offers several reasons to remain optimistic, the prevailing disconnect between pilots and scale-ups merits further evaluation.