Digital agriculture could unlock up to $500bn in additional agricultural GDP annually across low- and middle-income countries, but limited government delivery capacity is slowing adoption, according to a new report by Boston Consulting Group and Precision Development.
Source: Supplied
The report, From Strategy to Scale: Why Delivery Matters in Digital Agriculture, highlights the role of Digital Agriculture Units (DAUs) — specialised government teams designed to coordinate, implement, and scale digital farming initiatives.
Digital tools transforming smallholder farming
Smallholder agriculture underpins livelihoods and food security across low- and middle-income countries, and digital tools are increasingly helping farmers improve productivity and resilience.
Basic technologies such as SMS advisory platforms, interactive voice response systems, and digital farmer registries are expanding access to information. More advanced tools, including AI-driven weather insights and digital credit scoring, are enabling more precise, personalised farming support.
In East Africa, for example, Virtual Agronomist delivers advisory services at around one-tenth the cost of traditional extension, while increasing yields by up to 1.4 to 1.9 times for crops including maize, rice, sunflower, and sorghum.
Yet uptake remains low. Fewer than 15% of smallholder farmers globally use digital agriculture tools. Between 2019 and 2021, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries invested just $17bn — about 2% of agricultural spending — in digital infrastructure. As a result, many pilots fail to scale, leaving farmers, particularly women and marginalised groups, behind.
Delivery gaps limiting scale
“Across countries, we see the same persistent gap between strategy and delivery; not because plans are weak, but because dedicated delivery capacity is missing. To turn ambition into real impact, we need teams that can coordinate actors, align incentives, troubleshoot implementation, and drive results. That’s exactly what Digital Agriculture Units are designed to do,” said Zoë Karl-Waithaka, managing director and partner at BCG, Nairobi.
Well-designed DAUs typically perform four core functions: investment-oriented planning, stakeholder coordination, delivery support, and accountability and visibility. Their effectiveness depends on institutional design, clear mandates, and sustainable resourcing — all tailored to the country’s context.
Design for delivery
The report identifies five key dimensions for establishing effective DAUs:
• Institutional anchoring: Placement in agriculture ministries supports sector alignment but may face capacity limits; central or independent placement strengthens oversight and cross-sector coordination.
• Reporting line: Direct reporting to senior political leaders accelerates reform and sustains alignment, especially during early stages.
• Delivery mandate: Units may coordinate, implement, or follow hybrid models depending on national capacity and ownership of digital public infrastructure.
• Jurisdictional scope: National units typically set standards and manage shared platforms, while sub-national engagement helps drive implementation and scale.
• Resourcing model: Hybrid teams combining public officials with external experts provide technical capabilities and institutional capacity while supporting delivery.
"Digital tools can only deliver impact for farmers when they are embedded in systems that are built to scale," said Habtamu Yesigat, director of programmes, Ethiopia at Precision Development. “Digital Agriculture Units provide the delivery backbone governments need to move from isolated pilots to national platforms that reach millions of smallholder farmers and drive inclusive, sustainable growth."
As pressures on food systems increase, the report concludes that long-term success will depend on sustained delivery capacity, funding, and institutional support.
"As the urgency to build resilient, productive and climate-smart food systems grows, the next frontier is delivery: moving from vision to sustained execution, and from pilots to scalable national platforms. Digital Agriculture Units can unlock this shift, but only when their design is embedded right from the start," Karl-Waithaka said.
