Annual Meetings 2025: The TAAT programme – the bold wager on agricultural innovation to feed Africa and tackle climate change

When he received the World Food Prize in Des Moines, USA, in October 2017, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina announced a landmark initiative to help feed Africa: the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) programme. He described TAAT as “a response focused on knowledge and innovation to deploy proven technologies on a large scale across Africa.”

Launched in 2018, TAAT aims to reinforce one of the Bank’s strategic “High 5” priorities: “Feed Africa.” Seven years after its inception, the programme has demonstrated the power of an innovative, climate-smart approach to agriculture—using high-impact technologies to boost production, increase productivity, and mitigate risk through diversification and transformation across several agricultural value chains.

Food security remains a critical challenge in Africa and will take center stage at the African Development Bank Group’s 2025 Annual Meetings, themed: “Making Africa’s Capital Work Better for Africa’s Development.”

Africa is a continent rich in natural resources, with 65% of the world’s uncultivated arable land. Yet, most of its food is imported, and nearly 220 million people suffer from chronic undernourishment—a stark indicator of the enormous challenges facing agricultural innovation on the continent.

Innovation is essential to development policies, enabling greater adaptability to local environments and needs, while also driving economic growth.

TAAT has scaled up the distribution of heat-resistant wheat, drought-tolerant maize, high-yield rice, iron-rich beans, cassava, sorghum, millet, orange-flesh sweet potato, improved livestock breeds, and young fish to more than 12 million farmers—raising agricultural production by around 25 million tonnes.

Thanks to its focus on innovation, TAAT has transformed the landscape for seed producers, increasing both the quality and quantity of food production in countries such as Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Sudan. The programme has integrated 236 seed-based technologies into 46 large-scale investment projects across 34 African countries, contributing to food production with a total market value of US$2.8 billion.

TAAT has empowered farmers to boost yields and improve livelihoods with more efficient water management techniques and solutions for pest control, such as tackling the destructive fall armyworm.

“TAAT has helped Ethiopia become a net exporter of wheat in just five years,” said President Adesina during a 2024 visit to Nigeria. The programme also contributed to a significant increase in wheat production in Sudan and helped several West and Southern African countries maintain food production during prolonged drought.

In Ethiopia, after heat-resistant wheat varieties were introduced nationwide, irrigated wheat cultivation jumped from less than 5,000 hectares to 650,000 hectares between the 2018-2019 and 2021-2022 growing seasons. Yields doubled, producing 1.6 million additional tonnes of wheat in 2022. Total production from both irrigated and rain-fed systems reached seven million tonnes in 2021-2022. As a result, Ethiopia has achieved wheat self-sufficiency, rapidly transitioning from importer to exporter.

In Sudan, wheat production covered 224,700 hectares in 2014-2015 and expanded to 315,500 hectares, resulting in a record 1.2 million tonnes during the 2019-2020 season—the highest in the country’s history. The national production plan, developed with Bank support, aims for wheat self-sufficiency by 2025-2026.

TAAT’s innovation platforms have been key to these achievements in Ethiopia and Sudan. Similarly, Zimbabwe has attained food self-sufficiency through the programme.

The African Development Bank has also driven agricultural modernization by supporting projects that leverage digital technologies for data collection and project monitoring. The use of agri-data helps optimize resource allocation, boost yields, and enhance land productivity.

Additionally, TAAT contributes to reducing agriculture’s environmental impact.

In 2022, the largest US organization of journalists and media professionals of color, the National Association of Black Journalists, awarded the African Development Bank its “Salute to Excellence” prize for the TAAT initiative.

In November 2024, TAAT was honored for its innovative work in sustainable seed production systems at Seed Connect Africa 2024, an annual gathering of key industry leaders.

Innovation and technology are central to achieving food security in Africa. They help increase yields with fewer resources, optimize the use of natural assets, and build resilience to climate change.

The TAAT programme is proof that technology can transform agriculture into a powerful engine for sustainable development and economic prosperity, paving the way for Africa’s food self-sufficiency.

Cover photo:  A happy woman in the middle of her wheat field produced under the Bank's TAAT programme