“In our African countries, there is a real fondness for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) which must be used for agriculture,” Dr Badiane told the launch of the 2017 IFPRI report, focusing on “urbanization and food security.”

According to Dr Badiane, in order to have a competitive agriculture, Africa must master the new technologies including robotics and digital.

“We must also control the operations to handle and maintain agricultural and technological infrastructures, as well as after-sales services” said Badiane.

“The future of African agriculture depends on its level of mastery of new technologies” he opined.

Badiane also stressed the need to create training centers for farmers and end the excessive dependence on the academic curricula for agricultural training.

 “Our countries must also increase their level of financing for the agricultural sector, which has fallen from 4 to 2 percent,” the agricultural expert suggested.

The 2017, IFPRI report provides an overview of the outlook on major food policies, developments and decisions in 2016, and highlights the challenges and opportunities for the current year.