IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fpr/prnote/180318.html

Outcome assessment of the digital agriculture ecosystem in Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Yesigat, Habtamu
  • Abate, Gashaw T.
  • Spielman, David J.

Abstract

Ethiopia is making gradual but notable progress toward the digital transformation of its agricultural sector, driven by investments in connectivity, digital infrastructure, and cross-institutional coordination. Recent policy milestones have established an enabling foundation for scale, including the Digital Ethiopia 2025 and Digital Ethiopia 2030, personal data protection regulation and governance frameworks, and national roadmaps that will steer investment and implementation over the next decade—particularly the Digital Agriculture Extension and Advisory Services (DAEAS) roadmap and the Digital Agriculture Roadmap (DAR). However, persistent structural constraints such as limited rural internet coverage, low smartphone penetration, and unreliable electricity continue to shape the pace and equity of adoption. This paper synthesizes Ethiopia’s digital agriculture ecosystem with a focus on technology, data and analytical capacity, and policy environment. In the technology landscape, work is ongoing to develop decision-support applications alongside digital channels for delivering advisory services. Evidence from multiple pilot initiatives suggests these tools can expand outreach cost-effectively and improve the timeliness and relevance of agronomic guidance. The success of various pilot projects, along with valuable lessons from earlier efforts, strong government commitment, and supportive policies, has driven further investment in Ethiopia’s digital ecosystem. Nonetheless, substantial gaps remain in data availability and quality that limits the production of high-quality and context-specific advisory content. In addition, the reach and intensity of extension services needed to translate digital innovation into sustained productivity gains, income and livelihoods is not yet at the level desired. While Ethiopia’s digital agriculture agenda is well-positioned for accelerated scale, its impact will depend on resolving foundational constraints in last-mile connectivity, power reliability, and the institutions and pipelines required for trustworthy data and localized advisory at national scale.

Suggested Citation

  • Yesigat, Habtamu & Abate, Gashaw T. & Spielman, David J., 2026. "Outcome assessment of the digital agriculture ecosystem in Ethiopia," Project notes 180318, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:fpr:prnote:180318
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/180318
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Baul, Tushi & Karlan, Dean & Toyama, Kentaro & Vasilaky, Kathryn, 2024. "Improving smallholder agriculture via video-based group extension," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    2. Friedson-Ridenour, Sophia & Pierotti, Rachael & Springer, Emily & Gebreyohannes, Alemgena, 2025. "Cultivating collaboration through joint participation: Evidence from a video-based nutrition-sensitive agricultural extension program in Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    3. David Spielman & Kristin Davis & Martha Negash & Gezahegn Ayele, 2011. "Rural innovation systems and networks: findings from a study of Ethiopian smallholders," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(2), pages 195-212, June.
    4. Haile, Mekbib G. & Wossen, Tesfamicheal & Kalkuhl, Matthias, 2019. "Access to information, price expectations and welfare: The role of mobile phone adoption in Ethiopia," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 82-92.
    5. Bjorn Van Campenhout & David J. Spielman & Els Lecoutere, 2021. "Information and Communication Technologies to Provide Agricultural Advice to Smallholder Farmers: Experimental Evidence from Uganda," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(1), pages 317-337, January.
    6. Baozhi Li & Ni Zhuo & Chen Ji & Qibiao Zhu, 2022. "Influence of Smartphone-Based Digital Extension Service on Farmers’ Sustainable Agricultural Technology Adoption in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-14, August.
    7. Yitayew, Asresu & Abdulai, Awudu & Yigezu, Yigezu A. & Deneke, Tilaye T. & Kassie, Girma T., 2021. "Impact of agricultural extension services on the adoption of improved wheat variety in Ethiopia: A cluster randomized controlled trial," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    8. Abate, Gashaw T. & Bernard, Tanguy & Makhija, Simrin & Spielman, David J., 2023. "Accelerating technical change through ICT: Evidence from a video-mediated extension experiment in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Fernando, A. Nilesh, 2021. "Seeking the treated: The impact of mobile extension on farmer information exchange in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    10. Steinke, Jonathan & Ortiz-Crespo, Berta & van Etten, Jacob & Müller, Anna, 2022. "Participatory design of digital innovation in agricultural research-for-development: insights from practice," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    11. Toman Barsbai & Victoria Licuanan & Andreas Steinmayr & Erwin Tiongson & Dean Yang, 2020. "Information and the Acquisition of Social Network Connections," NBER Working Papers 27346, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Warner, James & Marilign, Yalew M. & Habte, Yetimwork, 2023. "The digital divide in rural Ethiopia: Determinants and implications of sex-disaggregated mobile phone ownership and use," IFPRI discussion papers 2196, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Voss, Rachel C. & Jansen, Tony & Mané, Bacary & Shennan, Carol, 2021. "Encouraging technology adoption using ICTs and farm trials in Senegal: Lessons for gender equity and scaled impact," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    14. Denise Hörner & Adrien Bouguen & Markus Frölich & Meike Wollni, 2022. "Knowledge and Adoption of Complex Agricultural Technologies: Evidence from an Extension Experiment," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(1), pages 68-90.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. S. Coggins & S. Munshi & J. Smith & A. K. Yadav & S. P. Poonia & S. Patil & N. K. Singh & A. Sawarn & D. C. Ireland & D. K. Singh & J. Liu & D. Glover & S. R. Sherpa & R. K. Sohane & P. Craufurd, 2025. "Impacts of farming advisory videos hinge on the goals of extension actors that share them," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 42(4), pages 3021-3039, December.
    2. Fang, Lan & Quan, Yurong & Mao, Hui & Chen, Shaojian, 2022. "The Information Communication Technology and Off-farm Employment of Rural Laborers: An Analysis Based on the Micro Data of China Family Panel Studies," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322088, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Estefan, Alejandro & Ordoñez, Romina & Parilli, Cristina & Winters, Paul, 2025. "Hybrid agricultural extension and the adoption of climate-resilient varieties: Evidence from oil palm in the Amazon," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    4. Galiè, Alessandra & Kramer, Berber & Spielman, David J. & Kawarazuka, Nozomi & Rietveld, Anne M. & Aju, Stellamaris, 2025. "Inclusive and gender-transformative seed systems: Concepts and applications," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    5. Berber Kramer & Carly Trachtman, 2024. "Gender dynamics in seed systems: an integrative review of seed promotion interventions in Africa," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 16(1), pages 19-45, February.
    6. Abate, Gashaw T. & Bernard, Tanguy & Makhija, Simrin & Spielman, David J., 2023. "Accelerating technical change through ICT: Evidence from a video-mediated extension experiment in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    7. Joseph Goeb & Mywish K. Maredia & Caitlin L. Herrington & A. Myint Zu, 2025. "Information Delivery in Times of Crisis: Evaluating Digitally‐Supported Agricultural Extension in Myanmar," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 56(6), pages 1225-1240, November.
    8. Hongyun Zheng & Wanglin Ma, 2023. "Smartphone-based information acquisition and wheat farm performance: insights from a doubly robust IPWRA estimator," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 633-658, June.
    9. Justice A. Tambo & Fredrick Mbugua & Solomon Agyemang Duah & Birgitta Oppong-Mensah & Christopher Yao Ocloo & Frances Williams, 2023. "Pest risk information, agricultural outcomes and food security: evidence from Ghana," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(6), pages 1667-1683, December.
    10. Kramer, Berber & Spielman, David J., 2025. "Quality seeds, improved varieties: The economics of crop genetic improvement and farmer uptake," IFPRI book chapters, in: Global food policy report 2025: Food policy: Lessons and priorities for a changing world, chapter 9, pages 221-244, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Catherine Ragasa & Oyakhilomen Oyinbo & Ning Ma, 2025. "Impact of Production‐ and Consumption‐Oriented Interventions on Crop Varietal Adoption: Cluster‐Randomized Controlled Trial Evidence From Northern Nigeria," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 56(6), pages 1009-1029, November.
    12. Abate, Gashaw T. & Abay, Kibrom A. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Kassim, Yumna & Spielman, David J. & Paul Jr Tabe-Ojong, Martin, 2023. "Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    13. Farris, Jarrad & Maredia, Mywish K. & Mason, Nicole M. & Ortega, David L., 2024. "Farmer personality and community-based extension effectiveness in Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    14. Jamleck Osiemo & Francesco Cecchi & Erwin Bulte & Caroline Mwongera, 2026. "Experiential learning, narrative‐based learning, and insurance adoption: Experimental evidence from Kenya," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 108(1), pages 232-253, January.
    15. Sanaz Nikghadam-Hojjati & Eda Marchetti & José Barata, 2026. "Women-led sustainable innovation in small island agriculture: challenges and barriers," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 13(1), pages 1-26, December.
    16. Baul, Tushi & Karlan, Dean & Toyama, Kentaro & Vasilaky, Kathryn, 2024. "Improving smallholder agriculture via video-based group extension," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    17. Runqi Lun & Wei Liu & Guojing Li & Qiyou Luo, 2024. "Does Digital Agricultural Technology Extension Service Enhance Sustainable Food Production? Evidence from Maize Farmers in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-23, February.
    18. Blazquez-Soriano, Amparo & Ramos-Sandoval, Rosmery, 2022. "Information transfer as a tool to improve the resilience of farmers against the effects of climate change: The case of the Peruvian National Agrarian Innovation System," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    19. Mekonnen, Daniel Ayalew & Gerber, Nicolas & Matz, Julia Anna, 2018. "Gendered Social Networks, Agricultural Innovations, and Farm Productivity in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 321-335.
    20. Mastenbroek, Astrid, 2025. "Scaling seed demand through behavioral insights: Applying the COM-B model and behavioral change wheel to the maize seed sector in Uganda," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fpr:prnote:180318. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifprius.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.