In addition, Africa's largely small-scale farmers rely disproportionately on rain-fed agriculture, in the absence of sufficient irrigation systems. Only in North Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands are irrigation levels comparable with developing world averages. Stunningly, only 0.6 percent of all cultivated land in Central Africa is irrigated.

Fully, 41 percent of the area under water management in Africa lies in North Africa, with only 3 percent in Central Africa and 6 percent in East Africa.

The importance of irrigation is explained by the fact that, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), around 20 percent of the world's cropland which is adequately irrigated accounts for more than 40 percent of total world food production. In Africa, irrigation has the ability to raise agricultural productivity by more than 50 percent.

Bigger budget pledges

African countries have committed to raise the budget share for agriculture to 10 percent. The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) aims to see agricultural productivity in Africa increase by 6 percent. Meanwhile, critical research support is being lent to small-scale farmers by organizations such as the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). And innovative financing mechanisms between donor institutions and commercial banks are increasing access to financing for African farmers. For instance, in Kenya, Equity Bank is administering a $47.6-million credit line from AGRA and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for small-scale Kenyan farmers. And, Standard Bank is providing $100 million in new-lending to smallholder farmers in Ghana, Mozambique, Uganda and Tanzania, with risk buffered by a $10-million loan guarantee fund provided by AGRA and the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).

These shifts are inspired in part by the tremendous success of so-called green revolutions in other emerging markets - principally Mexico, Brazil, China and India.

Though much is required and a collective inertia still in large part remains, there are increasing signs of how Africa's agricultural fortunes are changing. If adhered to, for instance, CAADP's select and pointed reforms could produce a doubling in African agricultural output within the next decade. Demand for upstream products linked to the broader agribusiness sector will also result, creating new economic opportunities for a range of African and international enterprises. Meanwhile, deepening intra-regional trade networks, supported by gradual but meaningful improvements in infrastructure networks, will support the emergence of commercial farming operations in key African countries.

The author is a research analyst with Standard Bank and the article is an extract from Africa Macro – Insight & Strategy report