Dr Betty Annan, AGRA’s country director, urged Africa’s young people to take an active leadership role in transforming the continent’s food systems at the 2025 Agricultural Innovation for Africa Conference organised by the Kosmos Innovation Center. She called on youth to experiment, innovate and reshape how food is produced, traded and sustained, arguing that Africa’s demographic advantage must be turned into a force for productivity and prosperity.

A demographic imperative

Annan noted that Africa now hosts the world’s largest youth population and that by 2050 one in every three young people on Earth will be African. She framed this scale as both an opportunity and a responsibility: with coordinated vision and purpose, the continent’s youth can drive technological adoption, generate employment and deliver inclusive growth across rural and urban economies.

Lifelong learning and mentorship

Education, she said, is a foundation not a finish line. Young professionals must commit to continuous self-directed learning, tracking market and technology trends, and expanding knowledge beyond their formal fields. Annan urged them to seek mentors who challenge and stretch their thinking, stressing that growth is rarely comfortable but consistently rewarding for those who persist.

Young people already driving change

Annan highlighted that much of the agricultural innovation on the continent is youth-driven. Startups and young agripreneurs are deploying drones and AI for crop monitoring, precision irrigation systems that measure soil moisture in real time, handheld devices that geotag soil data, mobile apps that diagnose plant disease, and digital marketplaces linking producers directly with buyers. She emphasised that biotechnology, robotics and locally developed digital platforms are also redefining seed systems, trade and farm management.

Three youth-led success stories

Annan showcased three Ghanaian ventures to illustrate the practical impact of youth innovation:

• Grow4Me — an online aggregator that links farmers to mechanisation services, buyers and investors. AGRA has provided grant support to help Grow4Me scale, enabling interventions that aim to empower 130,000 rice and soybean farmers to raise production and access markets.

• Kodu Technology — based in Tamale, KoduTech converts banana and plantain stems into sanitary pads, turning farm waste into valuable products. The firm won the 2024 GoGettaz Prize and received AGRA support to expand its circular-economy model.

• Agro Empire — a snail-farming enterprise that integrates out-grower networks with processing and value addition, producing snail meat, cosmetic ingredients from snail mucus and calcium-rich shell by-products for animal feed. AGRA supported the business’s participation in the African Food Systems Forum to attract investment.

These examples, Annan said, demonstrate how young Ghanaians are advancing sustainability, biodiversity stewardship, natural resource management and job creation across value chains.

AGRA’s commitment and programs

AGRA reaffirmed its support for youth-led agribusiness through the Youth Employment for Food and Agriculture programme, delivered in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. The initiative provides training, exposure to value-chain activities and opportunities in crop and livestock production, mechanisation, precision agriculture, digital skills, inclusive markets and agripreneurship.

Conference partners and ecosystem builders

Speakers at the AIA event included senior practitioners and academics such as Dr Peter Boamah Otokunor, Prof Godfred A. Bokpin and Dr Michael Abu Sakara Foster. Benjamin Gyan-Kesse, Executive Director of the Kosmos Innovation Center, reported that KIC has funded 81 startups across Ghana’s 16 regions and reiterated the centre’s openness to partnerships that amplify youth impact and strengthen agribusinesses.

Closing call to action

Dr Annan ended with a direct challenge: for young Africans to «get in there»—to innovate, experiment and lead—with the backing of institutions, funders and innovation hubs. With continuous learning, mentorship and targeted support, she argued, the continent’s youth can convert demographic weight into a durable engine for agricultural transformation, resilience and prosperity.