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Agricultural Transformation Technologies in Africa (TAAT) has convened a high-level work planning meeting under the Phase II Addendum to enhance the delivery of climate-smart agricultural technologies across Africa.
The conference, supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and held in Kigali, Rwanda from 23 to 24 March 2026, brought together key stakeholders including the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), CGIAR Center, Advanced Agricultural Research Institute (AARI), National Agricultural Research and Extension System (NARES), government representatives, private actors, and development partners.
The main highlight of this phase is the implementation of a €5 million grant from Germany, managed through the African Development Bank’s Transition Support Facility (TSF Pillar IV). The funding will support work in Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi and Nigeria.
The work planning meeting aims to review and verify the work plan and budget, finalize implementation arrangements, and strengthen cooperation among partners to ensure the effective development of program activities.
Key focus areas include strengthening seed systems, building institutional and technical capacity, increasing youth participation in agriculture, and scaling up digital advisory solutions to increase productivity and resilience to climate change.
Since its launch in 2018, TAAT has played a pivotal role in advancing Africa’s agricultural transformation by scaling proven technologies. The program supported the production of over 4,333 tonnes of bred seeds, leading to over 309,000 tonnes of certified seeds, significantly improving crop yields and farmer livelihoods across the continent.
Under the African Development Bank’s African Development Fund (ADF) concessional financing and grants window, the program integrated 71 technologies into 14 large-scale projects, integrated technical assistance into 21 projects in 24 countries with an impact of $857 million, and integrated 136 technologies into 18 large-scale projects in 21 countries with an impact of $1.7 billion.
In his remarks at the opening and signing ceremony, Mr. Innocent Musabuyimana, Chief Agricultural Technology Officer of the African Development Bank, affirmed that TAAT remains central to realizing the African Development Bank’s Feed Africa Vision.
“Strong partnerships are key to scaling up agricultural transformation, and this conference is about moving from planning to accelerating action,” Ms Musabuymana said.
IITA Management Representative and Rwanda Country Representative at the event, Matthiedou Konlambeig, praised TAAT’s commitment to transforming Africa’s food system, noting that over 309,000 tonnes of certified seeds had been produced and distributed to millions of farmers across Africa.
“TAAT has demonstrated success in strengthening seed systems across Africa, and we now need to scale up with speed, promote sustainability, and align implementation and accountability efforts to drive tangible impact for farmers,” he added.
Rachel Zozo, Acting Coordinator of the TAAT Program Management Unit, said the TAAT Phase II supplemental grants will focus on strengthening strategic investments in six countries with the aim of building capacity, resilience and innovation, while addressing vulnerability concerns through strengthening food systems.
“Our priorities at this stage are to strengthen seed systems and early generation seed (EGS) production, empower youth and organizations, expand digital farming solutions and strengthen cooperation between the public and private sectors,” Zozo added.
Stakeholders at the event spoke about the importance of this effort, highlighting the importance of strengthening partnerships and investing in local capacity to reduce Africa’s vulnerability to global agricultural shocks and ensure long-term food security.
As a result of this meeting, an implementation plan was finalized, partnerships were strengthened, and a subsidy agreement was signed between the Government of the Republic of Rwanda, the African Development Bank, and the TAAT program represented by IITA.
The agreement aims to facilitate the rapid implementation of activities across all four components of TAAT II, with a focus on capacity building of key stakeholders in six countries, supporting the strengthening of target countries’ seed systems, capacity building for early generation seed production by national agricultural research systems and the private sector, technical capacity building of young professionals in national agricultural research and extension institutions, and capacity building of target countries in digital advisory solutions for extension, climate information and input distribution.
Dr. Solange Uwituze, Minister of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, who signed on behalf of the Government of Rwanda, welcomed the MoU, noting that it will help increase productivity and create jobs for Rwandan youth through the food basket sites launched by the Ministry.
“In line with Rwanda’s 2050 vision to strengthen the food security of Rwandans, we need to increase agricultural productivity by 13 times what we currently produce. This requires adopting modern agricultural practices and improved technology. This MoU will contribute to that, as it will help provide clean seeds and increase the capacity of local actors to practice farming with increased productivity on small plots of land,” added Dr. Wituse.
