The agricultural sector should embrace new technologies to overcome climate change-related challenges, panellists including Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Mozambique’s Filipe Nyusi at the US-Africa business summit said.

The two presidents, who have invited investors from the U.S. and across Africa to invest in the agricultural sectors in their countries, were participating in a high-level dialogue on enhancing Africa’s value in Agriculture value chains in the U.S.-Africa Business Summit held in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone.

“To investors who are here who would like to come to Zimbabwe, you are assured, barring in mind the issue of the impact of climate change, ease of doing business. We are fully aware that capital goes where it feels safe. Our economic reforms have addressed the issue of the ease of doing business. We must create a situation where you attract global capital where it can go in and out without any constraints and we have made those political reforms to achieve that and become attractive,” Mnangagwa said.

Mnangagwa also expressed pride that his country’s agricultural reforms had paid off, making Zimbabwe the biggest supplier of blueberries in the SADC region, supplying Europe, the U.S., and Asia.

The four-day summit brought over 1,000 participants including government officials, private sector executives, and international investors to foster new business partnerships and explore investment opportunities and meet investors.

The summit comes at a time when the African continent’s agricultural sector faces challenges related to the climate crisis but the agricultural sector continues to look for solutions in order to produce climate-resilient crops.

Mozambique is one of the Southern African countries that was hit by Tropical Cyclone Freddy in February 2023 affecting thousands of buildings, ruining crops, and displacing 27,000 people. Apart from natural disasters, Mozambique has for a few years faced insecurity that has displaced millions of people in the Cabo Delgado region. Nyusi said that these factors have slowed agricultural activities despite the country’s agricultural potential and fertile land.

Albert Anoubon Momo, Trimble VP, said his organisation uses the precision agriculture method which uses technology sensing techniques that help to monitor crop states at multiple growth levels.