African Development Bank's US$16.6mn bet on smarter farming

Across Africa, millions of farmers are battling unpredictable weather, shrinking harvests, and ageing farming methods that simply cannot keep pace with the continent's growing food demands.

A new funding agreement is looking to change that, and quickly.

The African Development Bank Group and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have signed a US$16.61mn grant agreement to kick off the third phase of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation Programme, better known as TAAT-III. The signing took place on 18th February 2026 in Abuja, and it marks a fresh chapter in one of Africa's most consequential agricultural programmes.

Since TAAT first launched in 2018, the results have been hard to argue with. The programme has reached close to 25 million farmers, expanded climate-resilient practices across more than 35 million hectares, pushed crop yields up by as much as 69 per cent, and generated over US$4bn in additional agricultural value. Countries such as Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria have all recorded measurable improvements in staple crop output.

Nigeria's experience under the Wheat Compact tells the story well. Farmers who adopted improved heat-tolerant seed varieties watched their yields more than double, rising from 1.7 tonnes per hectare to 3.5 tonnes per hectare.

Abdul Kamara, Director General of the Bank Group's Nigeria Country Department, said, "TAAT-III underscores the Bank's commitment to ensuring that proven, climate-resilient agricultural technologies reach farmers faster and at scale. This phase strengthens the systems that deliver innovation, helping countries boost productivity, enhance resilience, and align agricultural transformation efforts with the Bank's four new areas of emphasis, dubbed the Four Cardinal Points."

IITA's Director General, Simeon Ehui, added, "TAAT-III allows us to deepen the delivery of science-based solutions that improve farmers' yields and livelihoods. Working with the Bank and our partners, we are scaling technologies that make Africa's food systems more resilient and competitive."

Funded through the African Development Fund, TAAT-III aims to reach an additional 14 million farmers across 37 low-income countries, embedding sustainable, private sector-driven models into long-term national farming strategies.