Cash crops, such as coffee or rice, are crops that are produced for a salable market. Agriculture makes up nearly 20% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy – a higher percentage than any other region worldwide. From Nigeria to the fertile land across the East African Rift Valley, the continent is home to 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land. Despite Africa’s expansive agriculture sector, there remain bottlenecks to productivity.
In light of these challenges, several technological advances have the potential to improve farmers’ bottom lines. For instance, precision technology measures rainfall, soil information, and soil productivity. At the same time, remote sensing technology can provide information on weather and climate. This, coupled with the majority of the world’s uncultivated arable land, presents a significant opportunity for cash crops going forward. By one estimate, cereal and grain production has the potential to increase threefold.
Here are the top 20 most produced cash crops in Africa.
| Rank | Cash crop | Tonnes |
| 1. | Cassava | 192.1 million |
| 2. | Sugar cane | 97.3 million |
| 3. | Maize | 81.9 million |
| 4. | Yams | 72.4 million |
| 5. | Rice, paddy | 38.8 million |
| 6. | Sorghum | 28.6 million |
| 7. | Rice, paddy (rice milled equivalent) | 25.9 million |
| 8. | Sweet potatoes | 27.9 million |
| 9. | Wheat | 26.9 million |
| 10. | Plantains | 26.7 million |
| 11. | Potatoes | 26.5 million |
| 12. | Fresh vegetables | 22.0 million |
| 13. | Oil palm fruit | 21.9 million |
| 14. | Tomatoes | 21.7 million |
| 15. | Bananas | 21.5 million |
| 16. | Groundnuts, with shell | 16.6 million |
| 17. | Sugar beet | 14.3 million |
| 18. | Onions, dry | 13.9 million |
| 19. | Millet | 13.7 million |
| 20. | Oranges | 9.8 million |
