The information is contained in the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation digitalisation of African agriculture report 2018-2019.

The centre is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and the European Union (EU), and is funded by the EU.

It works to advance food security, resilience and inclusive economic growth in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific through innovations in sustainable agriculture. The study was compiled with strategic advisory firm Dalberg.

The research found nearly 400 different digital agriculture solutions are active, with 33 million registered farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa. The survey report was released last week.

It states 400 players were surveyed, with 175 responses received. A database of 390 active solutions was developed. More than 120 interviews were conducted with agribusiness leaders, tech experts, solution providers, academics and policymakers.

The Dalberg team and the centre sought to analyse the state of digitalisation for agriculture in Africa (D4AG) and construct a current-state baseline, as well as projections for key sector characteristics and trends, using sector interviews, a survey of solutions providers and desk research.

According to the report, some of the technology used by farmers includes weather/climate, pest and disease early warning surveillance and advisory services.

Benjamin Addom, ICT for agriculture team leader at the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, says SA is on par with the rest of the world regarding technology use in agriculture.

"Because of the existence of large-scale commercial farming in SA, it can be said the country is well advanced on the continent for digitalisation. For smaller-scale farmers, though, the impact of digitalisation is less pronounced."

Centre director Michael Hailu notes digitalisation can be a turning point in transforming Africa's agriculture.

"This report indicates that despite challenges, the economics are rapidly improving, with a handful of players beginning to develop viable, large-scale businesses. To reach full potential, companies will now need to focus on converting customer reach to actual use in order for this type of model to yield returns."

In the report, several gaps in D4AG uptake were highlighted, especially among women, who account for more than 40% of the agricultural labour force, yet comprise only a quarter of the registered users of digital services.

Hailu says there is room for improvement when it comes to technology in agriculture in SA.

"Investment in digitalisation for agriculture to date has been isolated, scattered and piecemeal, with efforts to scale-up being unnecessarily duplicated, causing inefficiencies and hampering large-scale, inclusive long-term growth."

He notes initial figures suggest farmers can increase their yields by up to 70% with support from digital tools that provide agronomic advice, while others have seen their incomes improve by 20% to 40% by better linking them to markets to sell their produce, or buy agricultural inputs.

"But this potential will not be fulfilled by chance. At such a defining moment for this burgeoning market, we will only realise the true benefit of digitalisation in African agriculture with strong, coordinated leadership," Hailu points out.

The report made several recommendations for capitalising on the potential of digitalisation in African agriculture, including the creation of an alliance to promote partnerships and scale-up solutions, more attention to farmer data privacy and security, and further focus on measuring D4AG impacts.