Digitalization is an opportunity for African farmers, as it brings several services and innovative technology closer to them. Nowadays, the digital agriculture ecosystem in Africa involves hundreds of start-ups and projects that work toward innovative and sustainable solutions. However, the government policies that need to create a conducive environment do not always keep pace with the digital ecosystems needs. In this article, we review ICT-related policies and their influence on agriculture in thirteen countries from West Africa and six from East Africa. The review was conducted using a mixed-methods approach. We used MCI and EBA ICT index for quantitative analysis on one hand, and on the other hand the content analysis technique Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was used. The analysis yielded four main conclusions. First, government policies address mainly the areas of infrastructure development, digital finance and access to credit, and data protection. Second, countries with a dedicated ICT for agriculture strategy are scarce in East and West Africa. Third, in-country actions on e-agriculture are scattered with weak coordination and synergy. Fourth, East Africa is farther ahead than West Africa in terms of digital policy enforcement for agriculture on the continent. The findings have implications for policies that are more adapted to farmers’ context and needs.

The past two decades have shown the potential of information and communication technologies to transform the agricultural sector, improve the livelihoods of farmers, and support the economic growth of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. From precision agriculture to creating direct linkages between farmers and markets, the possibilities seem endless. Therefore, there has been a boom in digital entrepreneurship in the Sub-Saharan African agricultural sector. Numerous digital applications are being developed and deployed. However, there are limited data and evidence on how the ecosystem is organized and whether and how the many digital applications that are being created are viable. This research aims to fill a gap by reporting a survey of 306 digital applications. The study found that digital entrepreneurs are mainly male; digital applications are mainly single-countryfocused, address crop production more than any other agricultural subsector, and mainly offer integrated services. One key finding of the study is that the death rate of digital applications in Sub-Saharan Africa is 50%. The study discusses the implications of such findings for policy and practice.