Baobab Impact

Working to transform agriculture in Africa

Baobab Impact is a mission-driven, boutique advisory firm working with our partners to deliver transformational ambitions in Africa’s agri-food sector. We combine rigorous analytical and problem-solving capabilities with deep local presence, trusted networks and the ability to operate seamlessly between the boardroom and the field.

Our Services

Pragmatic strategy development

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Business-building & go-to-market support

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Ecosystem orchestration

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Capital moblization & investment support

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Our Initiatives

Value Chain Transformation

Unlocking Africa's Agri-Food Potential, End to End

Value Chain Transformation

Africa's agricultural value chains hold enormous untapped potential — realizing it requires coordinated investment from farm to fork. Agricultural value chains across Africa face systemic challenges at every level — from fragmented smallholder production and inadequate post-harvest infrastructure to thin market linkages and weak trade corridors. These bottlenecks suppress productivity, limit economic value, and undermine food and nutrition security across the continent. Addressing them requires more than isolated interventions; it demands a coordinated, continent-wide vision for value chain transformation. Baobab Impact, in partnership with Dalberg Advisers, was contracted by AGRA to develop an African Corridor Initiative — a strategic blueprint for unlocking value-chain-wide investments across key agro-commodities. The initiative charts a clear pathway toward making Africa nutritionally self-sufficient by 2050, aligning public and private capital behind the infrastructure, logistics, policy, and market systems needed to move African agriculture from subsistence to scale.

AI for Agriculture

Putting Precision Agriculture in the Hands of Every Farmer

AI for Agriculture

AI-powered tools are transforming what's possible for Africa's rural farmers — from smarter planting decisions to early disease detection. Africa's smallholder farmers operate in some of the world's most dynamic and unpredictable agricultural environments, yet they remain among the least supported by modern decision-making tools. Poor access to timely, localized information on cultivation practices, pest and disease outbreaks, soil health, and input optimization means that millions of farmers are making high-stakes decisions without the data they need — leaving yields, incomes, and livelihoods on the table. Contracted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Baobab Impact developed a comprehensive AI strategy designed to bring the power of intelligent, data-driven tools directly to rural farming communities across Africa. The strategy identifies practical applications — from AI-guided advice on optimal planting and harvesting practices, to early detection of crop disease, to precision fertilizer recommendations — and maps the enabling conditions required to deploy these tools equitably and at scale, ensuring that the benefits of agricultural AI reach those who need them most.

Livestock Trade & Investment

Mobilizing Capital Behind Africa's $200 Billion Livestock Opportunity

Livestock Trade & Investment

Africa's livestock sector is one of the continent's most underleveraged economic assets — a coordinated investment agenda can change that. Livestock contributes over $200 billion annually to the African economy and supports the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people across the continent. Yet productivity remains stubbornly low in most regions, and the full potential of both domestic markets and export opportunities remains largely unrealized. Fragmented policy environments, limited access to veterinary and extension services, underdeveloped trade infrastructure, and insufficient investment flows continue to hold the sector back from playing its transformative economic role. Contracted by the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), Baobab Impact developed a continent-wide livestock investment agenda designed to catalyze coordinated action across the full ecosystem of stakeholders. The agenda sets out a strategic framework to mobilize binding commitments from donor institutions, national governments, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and private sector actors — aligning resources, policy reforms, and market development efforts behind a shared vision for a productive, competitive, and resilient African livestock sector.

R&D Ecosystems

Building the Science Infrastructure Africa's Agriculture Deserves

R&D Ecosystems

Closing Africa's agricultural R&D gap requires more than funding — it requires building the ecosystems where innovation can take root and scale. Africa's agri-food sector remains chronically underserved by research and development. The continent accounts for a disproportionately small share of global agricultural R&D investment, and what exists is often fragmented across underfunded national institutions, disconnected from farmers' realities, and poorly integrated with global knowledge networks. This innovation deficit has real consequences — slower adoption of improved seed varieties, limited development of locally adapted technologies, and a persistent gap between what African agriculture could achieve and what it actually delivers. Contracted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Baobab Impact developed a strategic framework for building robust, continent-wide agri-food R&D ecosystems capable of generating and scaling locally relevant agricultural innovation. The strategy addresses the full architecture of a functioning R&D ecosystem — institutional capacity, funding models, public-private collaboration, regional knowledge-sharing networks, and pathways for translating research into farmer-level impact — positioning Africa to become not just a consumer of global agricultural science, but an active and confident producer of it.

Who we are

Baobab Impact is a mission-driven, boutique advisory firm working with our partners to deliver transformational ambitions in Africa’s agri-food sector.