Sensors in soil, data in clouds, machines speaking quietly to one another. Long before today’s obsession with automation, technology was already merging across sectors, reshaping how we grow food, manage water and imagine the future of work.
So when the opportunity arose to attend the Agri-Tech and Aqua-Tech Acceleration Programme on 27th January 2026, part of the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) initiative ‘’Leveraging Agri-Tech and AI for Sustainable Agricultural and Export Development in South Africa’’, which aims to empower 50 South African Agri-Tech and Aqua-Tech SMEs, at least half of them women-led, I didn’t hesitate. Learning, after all, often begins where familiarity ends.
In a fast-paced world that rewards urgency over reflection, I sometimes fantasise about becoming a farmer on a deserted plot of land. Living off fresh produce. Sustaining myself nutritionally, physically and mentally. A fairytale perhaps, but inside that imagined stillness lives a very real question about systems, ownership and survival.
What unfolded during the programme was a different kind of story. One rooted not in escape but in inheritance.
Many participants spoke about being introduced to farming by parents or grandparents. Farming was seen as a legacy, a memory. Something wholesome and deeply nurturing on good days. Yet, somewhere between the soil and the market, that inheritance stopped yielding rewards, not socially or economically. The paradox was unsettling. How could something so essential remain so undervalued?
By taking matters into their own hands, farmers and technologists found themselves trading fields for boardrooms called Soweto, Lagos, and Dar es Salaam at 22 on Sloane, Africa’s largest startup campus and entrepreneurship hub. The geography might have changed for some but the questions about sustainability did not.
As I listened, it became clear that this programme wasn’t just about technology or farming. It was about negotiation. How power, capital and knowledge move through agricultural ecosystems. Who controls access. Who sets the terms. Who gets to scale, and who remains stuck at pilot phase.
I’ll admit, my farming experience is limited to consumption. But my curiosity lies less in what the technology does and more in what the exchange reveals about development and whether transformation is genuinely intended or merely well-worded.
Stories like Sibayeni Metrofarming, founded by Samkelisiwe Chunda, offer a hopeful glimpse into the future of agriculture. Recognised among the UNDP South Africa Top 10 winners, Chunda’s journey reflects a resilience that has opened doors to spaces where her Agri-Tech solutions are now climate-smart, youth-focused, and future-ready. Reflecting on the programme, she describes it as “a powerful week of research, learning, connection, and positioning our work to contribute meaningfully to food security, green economy growth, and small business development in South Africa.”
As a Japan–South Africa exchange, the platform positions itself as an introduction to Japanese and South African SME and smallholder innovations, with the intention of fostering collaboration beyond the four-day programme.
Young people feel like they have no future due to climate change
What does the current farming ecosystem actually look like, and who does it benefit? What role do research and scientific data hubs play in shaping access to information for farmers, advisors, and investors? And who determines what knowledge is prioritised, published and monetised?
These were questions I carried with me while also being reminded of the grim realities of limited technical training for farmers, Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) affecting livestock across the country, and ongoing challenges around access to land.
Perhaps most importantly, if technology is the bridge to our multi-faceted challenges, where are the roadmaps that ensure smallholders can cross it confidently? What does “successful exchange” mean beyond the closing session, particularly for farmers on the ground whose realities do not shift at the speed of policy cycles or pilot projects?
I may not have had direct answers to these questions but what gave me cautious optimism was the diversity in the room. Young founders and developers alongside seasoned practitioners. Those seeking knowledge sitting beside those with experience to share. That mix matters because transformation does not come from technology alone but from honest exchanges about constraints, incentives and power.
If programmes like this are to succeed, they must do more than introduce tools. They must interrogate systems. They must create pathways for continuity, accountability and local ownership. Otherwise, innovation risks becoming another layer placed gently over structural cracks.
Agriculture, after all, has never just been about food. It is about survival. Dignity. Memory. And the future we choose to cultivate together.
Amina Williams is an international communications strategist and writer with experience spanning entertainment publicity, energy, oil and gas, governance, and global policy. Her work focuses on youth policy, AI and digital innovation, and education, alongside her pursuit of a Master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy.
