FAO Leads Africa’s Bold Shift to Smart Farming as Dar es Salaam Conference Seals Action Plan. By Raymond Enoch
Africa has taken a decisive step toward transforming its agricultural future, as governments, farmers, innovators and development partners converged in Dar es Salaam to agree on a shared direction—and an unmistakable readiness to act—on smart and inclusive farming.
The Africa Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization, convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and hosted by the United Republic of Tanzania, concluded on February 5th 2026 with a bold ten-point action plan designed to move the continent from dialogue to delivery.
The gathering drew more than 500 participants in person and recorded over 1,000 online engagements, underscoring the growing urgency around modernizing Africa’s agrifood systems.
What emerged from the conference was not another declaration of intent, but a practical roadmap anchored in African realities.
FAO Policy Officer Mark Fynn made this clear during the closing ceremony, stressing that the agreed actions reflect “shared direction and practical readiness to act,” rather than aspirational commitments. According to him, the plan focuses on technology-led farming that is inclusive, scalable and grounded in local contexts.
The action points cut across financing, innovation and access. They include expanding tailored investment mechanisms for farmers and service providers, strengthening mechanization service ecosystems, promoting shared-use and service-based business models, accelerating digital transformation, and ensuring youth and women are fully integrated into mechanization services.
Demand-driven research and context-adapted innovation also feature prominently.
FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol captured the mood of the conference, noting that progress does not require total unanimity but does demand clarity of purpose. That clarity, she said, is now firmly in place.
For African countries, the conference marked a moment of alignment. FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, Abebe Haile-Gabriel, emphasized that mechanization must be understood beyond machines alone. “It is about systems that work,” he said, adding that participants would leave Dar es Salaam energized to push the agenda forward.
Stakeholders echoed this sense of momentum.
Babafemi Oyewole, Chief Executive Officer of the Pan African Farmers Organization (PAFO), called for collective responsibility to ensure the conference outcomes translate into measurable benefits for farmers across the continent.
Youth voices were also prominent. Rose Wangithi of the Consortium of African Youth in Agriculture and Climate Change (CAYACC) urged countries to move past isolated pilot projects and instead build strong ecosystems that support young agri-tech entrepreneurs. She emphasized that young people are already delivering solutions and should be treated as partners, not just beneficiaries.
The conference also reframed the idea of mechanization itself. Discussions moved well beyond tractors to spotlight emerging technologies such as GPS-guided drones, sensor-based autonomous feeding systems, artificial intelligence-driven advisory services and big data platforms that enhance decision-making. These innovations, participants agreed, hold the potential to boost productivity, reduce losses, ease farm labour and create new jobs across Africa’s agrifood value chains.
Looking ahead, FAO confirmed that the outcomes of the Dar es Salaam meeting will inform its Global Conference on Smart Farming scheduled for July in Rome. An Asia-focused conference on sustainable agricultural mechanization is also planned later in 2026, reinforcing FAO’s broader commitment to transforming global agrifood systems to be more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable.
For Africa, however, the message from Dar es Salaam was clear: the continent is no longer debating whether to embrace smart farming—it is organizing itself to make it work.
