A new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), developed in collaboration with Precision Development (PxD), highlights how Digital Agriculture Units (DAUs) can help governments translate digital strategies into measurable impact for farmers.
According to the report, From Strategy to Scale: Why Delivery Matters in Digital Agriculture, digital agriculture could unlock up to USD 500 billion in additional agricultural GDP annually across low- and middle-income countries — if proven solutions can move beyond small-scale pilots and achieve national scale. The research underscores a persistent gap: while many governments have developed ambitious digital agriculture strategies, far fewer have invested in the institutional delivery capacity required to turn plans into results.
The Role of Digital Agriculture Units
Digital Agriculture Units are emerging as a practical solution to bridge this divide. These dedicated teams, embedded within governments or national programmes, focus specifically on coordinating, implementing and monitoring digital agriculture initiatives. Their core purpose is to ensure that strategy translates into real, tangible outcomes for farmers.
Smallholder agriculture remains central to livelihoods and food security across much of Africa and other low- and middle-income regions. Basic digital tools — such as SMS advisory platforms, interactive voice response systems and mobile-enabled farmer registries — are already helping farmers address long-standing challenges. As digital ecosystems mature, more advanced tools, including AI-driven weather insights and digital credit scoring, are enabling greater precision and personalisation.
In East Africa, for instance, the Virtual Agronomist programme demonstrates what is possible. It delivers digital advisory services at approximately one-tenth the cost of traditional extension services while increasing farmer yields by 1.4 to 1.9 times for crops such as maize, rice, sunflower and sorghum.
Scaling Remains the Core Challenge
Despite promising results, adoption rates remain low. Globally, fewer than 15% of smallholder farmers use digital agriculture tools. Between 2019 and 2021, countries within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) invested just USD 17 billion — roughly 2% of total agricultural spending — in digital infrastructure. This underinvestment has limited the ability of successful pilot projects to scale nationally, often leaving women and marginalised farmers behind.
Zoë Karl-Waithaka, Managing Director and Partner at BCG Nairobi, notes that the gap between ambition and execution is rarely due to weak strategies. Instead, it stems from a lack of dedicated delivery capacity. “To turn ambition into real impact, we need teams that can coordinate actors, align incentives, troubleshoot implementation, and drive results. That’s exactly what Digital Agriculture Units are designed to do,” she explains.
Designing DAUs for Impact
The report identifies four core functions typically performed by effective DAUs:
- Investment-oriented planning
- Stakeholder coordination
- Delivery support
- Accountability and visibility
However, their success depends heavily on thoughtful design. The report outlines five key dimensions that shape DAU effectiveness:
Institutional anchoring: Where the unit sits within government determines its authority and reach. Placement within an Agriculture Ministry can strengthen sector alignment, while anchoring within a central body or independent structure can enhance cross-sector oversight and speed.
Reporting lines: Direct reporting to senior political leaders can provide the authority needed to maintain momentum and coordinate reforms, particularly during early implementation phases.
Delivery mandate: Some DAUs primarily coordinate stakeholders and set standards, while others directly implement digital public goods such as farmer registries. Many evolve into hybrid models over time.
Jurisdictional scope: In federal or devolved systems, strong engagement at both national and sub-national levels is critical. Ethiopia has established a national-level DAU, while India illustrates a dual approach operating at both national and state levels.
Resourcing model: Hybrid Project Management Units (PMUs), combining public officials with embedded digital and data experts, are proving effective in accelerating delivery while building long-term institutional capacity. Ethiopia’s model blends civil servants with secondees from partner organisations, while India incorporates external experts for technical domains such as data analytics. Countries including Benin and Kenya are developing similar lean, partner-supported structures.
Moving from Vision to Execution
Habtamu Yesigat, Director of Programmes in Ethiopia at Precision Development, emphasises that digital tools only create impact when embedded within systems built for scale. DAUs, he argues, provide the delivery backbone required to transform isolated pilots into national platforms capable of reaching millions of smallholder farmers.
As climate pressures, population growth and food security challenges intensify, the report concludes that Africa’s digital agriculture ambitions must shift from strategy to sustained execution. With clear mandates, appropriate institutional placement and long-term financing, Digital Agriculture Units have the potential to unlock more resilient, productive and climate-smart food systems across the continent.
Ultimately, the next frontier in digital agriculture is not innovation alone — but delivery at scale.