Keypoints:
- Major shortfall in agricultural finance
- Food imports set to surge by 2030
- BCG urges global investment action
AFRICAN agriculture remains significantly underfunded despite its potential to advance up to 50 percent of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, according to a new report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in collaboration with the Paris Peace Forum. The briefing, sourced from the report released on October 23, 2025, warns that mounting investment gaps risk deepening food insecurity, slowing climate adaptation, and constraining economic growth.
Investment shortfalls threaten development
The report notes that African farms attracted just $49bn in investment in 2022. Experts estimate that around $200bn is required to unlock the sector’s full potential. Yet agriculture already contributes roughly 30 percent of Africa’s GDP and supports around 70 percent of the population, most of them women.
Funding disparities are stark. African farmers receive about $140 per year on average, compared with roughly $1,300 US dollars globally. Limited access to irrigation, mechanisation, and productivity-boosting technologies forces the continent to import more than $27bn worth of cereals annually. Without corrective action, that figure could surge to $110bn by 2030.
‘Investing in African agriculture is about more than feeding the continent. It is about transforming Africa into a driver of global food security, resilience, and economic growth,’ said Younès Zrikem, Managing Director and Partner at BCG in Casablanca and coauthor of the study.
A triple win for social and climate goals
BCG argues that high-impact investment in agriculture can reduce poverty, tackle hunger, and narrow gender inequality, while strengthening health and education outcomes. More than 400 million Africans currently live in extreme poverty, while around 60 percent of the world’s acutely food-insecure people are on the continent.
Chronic malnutrition affects 290 million Africans, hindering development and learning for 45 million children under five. With women accounting for 40 percent of the global agricultural workforce, investment could accelerate progress on gender equality. Meanwhile, climate-smart farming could ease projected displacement for what may become 40 percent of the world’s climate migrants by 2050.
‘Strengthening Africa’s agricultural systems is not just a necessity for the continent, it is equally important for the rest of the world,’ said Zoe Karl-Waithaka, Managing Director and Partner at BCG in Nairobi.
Public spending remains below targets
Public spending on agriculture across Africa averages just three percent of government budgets, far below the African Union’s recommended 10 percent. Only Malawi and Ethiopia consistently meet the benchmark. Private sector capital accounts for around three percent of funding—significantly lower than the global average of 10 percent.
‘Africa’s agricultural potential remains vastly underleveraged, not due to lack of opportunity, but due to underinvestment,’ said Olayinka Majekodunmi, Partner at BCG in Lagos. ‘With the right incentives, blended finance, scalable innovations, and regional collaboration, we can unlock a new era of agricultural transformation.’
Initiatives attempt to accelerate reform
In June 2024, the Paris Peace Forum launched the Agricultural Transitions Lab for African Solutions (ATLAS) to promote transparency, accountability, and investment alignment. Its ‘2×30 Challenge’ aims to double annual agricultural investment from 49bn to 100bn US dollars by 2030.
Karl-Waithaka added: ‘Bridging the funding gap is not just a moral imperative; it is a strategic opportunity to unlock progress across poverty reduction, climate resilience, and food security. The time for action is now.’
