Farmer Prosperity Must Anchor Africa’s Institutional and Economic Transformation: AGRA’s Aggie Konde

Addis Ababa, October 22, 2026 (FMC) — African institutions must align knowledge, public spending and private investment around farmer prosperity to turn agricultural productivity into reliable incomes, viable enterprises and broader economic transformation, Aggie Konde, Chief Brand, Communications, External Engagements and Advocacy at AGRA, argues in her commentary on Africa’s development priorities.

In the second instalment of her Prosperity Architecture series, Konde argues that Africa’s challenge is no longer simply about the availability of knowledge, but whether institutions can connect their expertise, resources and mandates to deliver measurable economic outcomes.

Governments, universities, businesses, development institutions and communities have accumulated decades of experience in improving productivity, strengthening markets and building resilience. However, she maintains that this knowledge will generate lasting prosperity only when institutions coordinate their efforts and translate it into better decisions, productive investments and higher returns.

Konde identifies farmers as the first investors in food systems, noting that they commit land, labour, capital and time before processors, financiers and other value-chain actors decide whether to invest. Yet farmers remain exposed to weather conditions, input costs, fluctuating prices and uncertainty over market access.

“Economically, the farmer is not simply a beneficiary of the food system. She is the first and most vested investor,” she writes, arguing that development strategies must move beyond supporting production to creating conditions that enable farming enterprises to generate reliable returns and attract further investment.

According to Konde, farmer prosperity depends on coordinated investments across sectors, including energy, roads, irrigation, finance, insurance, research, information, standards and skills. These complementary interventions must reach the same places, value chains and communities at the right time to strengthen agricultural enterprises and improve their economic prospects.

She cautions, however, that coordination alone cannot guarantee prosperity. Increased production must translate into higher incomes, value addition, productive employment and more affordable nutritious food. Institutions must therefore address market failures and the distribution of value across agricultural value chains to help farmers move from producing more to earning more.

Konde argues that farmer prosperity can drive wider economic transformation by stimulating demand for agricultural inputs, equipment, finance and technology, supporting processing and related services, attracting investment and creating jobs across the economy.

She also calls for a shift in how development progress is assessed. Rather than measuring success solely through infrastructure built, electricity generated, financing provided or public budgets spent, institutions should evaluate whether these investments work together to improve livelihoods, raise returns on productive investment and strengthen local economies.

In this regard, Konde places ministries of finance at the centre of efforts to align national development priorities, arguing that public budgets reveal whether spending across agriculture, energy, infrastructure, health, skills, trade and industry contributes to a coherent prosperity strategy.

The central question, she maintains, is not how much public expenditure is labelled agricultural, but whether investments across sectors improve the business environment, enable value creation and attract responsible private capital.

Konde outlines three questions that should guide institutional cooperation: who owns the prosperity outcome, what institutions must be able to achieve together, and how collective action should be organised.

She argues that farmer prosperity cannot be the responsibility of agriculture ministries alone, given its links to investment, enterprise development, employment, trade, food affordability and domestic demand. Shared responsibility requires clear economic objectives and accountability for the conditions needed to achieve them.

Likewise, institutional effectiveness should be assessed by whether policies, budgets and investments reinforce one another, reduce risks and enable more value to remain within the economy.

On organising collective action, Konde stresses the need to connect institutions according to their mandates and capacities, bringing together those responsible for budgets, investment, risk management, research, knowledge and delivery rather than expecting every institution to participate in every decision.

These principles underpin AGRA’s call for a Renewed Alliance, which Konde describes as a practical framework for aligning public, private, research, farmer and development institutions around measurable prosperity outcomes. The initiative seeks to translate shared knowledge into coordinated investment and create conditions that encourage farmers and enterprises to invest and reinvest.

Konde concludes that Africa’s development challenge requires more than renewed declarations of ambition. It demands institutions capable of organising their resources, expertise and decisions around outcomes that improve people’s lives.

“Farmer prosperity is not simply an outcome of Africa’s transformation. It is a test of our institutions and can become one of the engines of our wider prosperity,” she writes.