Africa possesses enormous agricultural potential. Yet the continent continues to import food while farmers struggle to access finance, technology, formal markets and the infrastructure needed to move their products efficiently.
For Maureen A. Onyango, the problem is not simply that Africa needs to produce more.
Africa needs to connect what it already produces to the opportunities that exist across the continent.
In her contribution to Women in Geopolitics, Maureen identifies four critical barriers facing women in agriculture: access to finance, land ownership, technology and formal markets. Women constitute a significant share of Africa’s agricultural workforce, yet many remain concentrated at the most basic level of agricultural labour and are disconnected from the value and opportunities further along the value chain.
Her challenge is powerful: imagine what would happen if every woman farmer had access to markets, finance, technology and information.
The transformation could be enormous; But this requires thinking beyond production.
Maureen argues that agriculture must be understood as an ecosystem, in which production, markets, finance, logistics, technology and policy work together. When these elements remain disconnected, value is lost and Africa’s agricultural potential remains underutilised.
One of the most striking gaps she identifies is the disconnect between buyers and producers.
Farmers may be searching for markets while buyers are simultaneously searching for reliable African suppliers. Yet the two often do not know each other.
The result is a paradox: African manufacturers may import agricultural commodities from outside the continent while similar products are available elsewhere in Africa—sometimes even being lost to post-harvest waste.
This is where regional integration and technology become critical.
Africa needs better market information, stronger buyer-supplier connections, improved logistics, storage and cold-chain infrastructure, reliable quality standards and greater adoption of agricultural technology.
It also needs finance that understands agriculture and can support farmers, processors and the infrastructure connecting them.
For Maureen, AfCFTA provides an important platform for achieving scale. But the agreement will only deliver its full potential if African countries begin seeing themselves not simply as competing national markets, but as part of one continental market.
And there is another important dimension to her argument: fair value for farmers.
If Africa wants to reduce its dependence on imported food and build resilient agricultural industries, farmers must receive prices that make continued production viable.
Ultimately, Maureen’s message is about moving from isolated agricultural activity to an interconnected African food and economic system.
“The future of Africa in agriculture will not be determined by how much we produce alone. I think it will really be determined by how effectively we connect production to opportunity.”
When those connections are built, agriculture can do much more than feed Africa.
It can strengthen intra-African trade, create jobs, drive industrialisation, improve food security and unlock Africa’s economic potential.
The Women in Geopolitics Debate Series is a high-level thought-leadership platform dedicated to amplifying African voices, particularly women’s voices, in conversations on geopolitics, global affairs, governance, leadership and development.
Through dialogue with women leaders, diplomats, policymakers, business leaders, academics and experts from across Africa and beyond, the programme is building a growing archive of African women’s perspectives on the issues shaping our continent and our world.
We invite you to visit the Women in Geopolitics Knowledge Hub on YouTube, explore previous conversations and subscribe as we unveil a new voice every day throughout August.
Madelein Mkunu is the President of Leading Women of Africa (LWA), a Pan-African social enterprise promoting women's leadership in economic development, and the founder of Beyond Boundaries, a global content and advocacy platform amplifying African women’s voices in policy, peacebuilding, and development. A bilingual English–French strategist and accomplished public speaker, she brings over 20 years of experience in gender mainstreaming, inclusive governance, and stakeholder engagement across Africa and globally. She holds an MBA and a Master’s in Management from IEDC-Bled School of Management (Slovenia), a Postgraduate Degree in Development Studies from the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), a Certificate in Leadership from the Dale Carnegie Institute, and is an alumna of Michigan State University’s Women Empowerment Programme. With a background in accounting and a passion for transformative change, Madelein is a trusted advisor to institutions seeking Africa-rooted development solutions.
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