We Must Change How Young Africans Perceive Agriculture- Asantehene

The Monarch of the Asante Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has affirmed that transforming Africa’s agricultural landscape requires an urgent shift in how young Africans perceive the sector, urging a transition from backbreaking subsistence farming to profitable, tech-driven entrepreneurship.

Delivering his keynote address on August 27, 2026, at the Africa Business Investment Summit in Washington, D.C., Otumfuo insisted that the sector’s success depends on reshaping societal attitudes.

“We must also change how young Africans perceive agriculture. Farming must not be associated with poverty and hardship. It must be possible for a young graduate to enter agriculture because it is profitable, technologically advanced and capable of building wealth,” he stated, adding that treating farming as a serious business will naturally attract talent, capital, and innovation.

He highlighted the stark economic contradiction currently facing the continent, noting that it remains fundamentally unacceptable for Africa to import massive quantities of food while holding immense agricultural potential and facing widespread food insecurity.

Overcoming this failure, the Asantehene noted, means replacing subsistence farming with productivity, technology, processing, finance, and market access.

To achieve this vision, His Majesty outlined a structural blueprint for the agricultural value chain requiring irrigation systems that reduce dependence on rainfall, mechanisation to improve field efficiency, and storage facilities to eliminate post-harvest losses.

He further emphasised the need for improved seeds, continuous agricultural research, crop insurance, and whole-chain infrastructure and logistics to fully integrate and de-risk the sector.

Story by Hajara Fuseini

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