Africa’s Top Soybean Producers in 2022: Who Is Growing the Continent’s Most Valuable Legume?
Soybeans are quietly reshaping African agriculture. From the commercial farms of South Africa’s Free State province to the smallholder plots of West Africa’s Sahel belt, Glycine max — a legume native to East Asia — has become one of the continent’s most strategically important crops. In 2022, Africa produced a combined 4,538,839 tonnes of soybeans, a figure that reflects decades of policy shifts, market pressure, and agronomic investment across dozens of nations.
Why Soybeans Matter to Africa’s Food and Economic Future
Soybeans carry a protein content of roughly 36–40% by dry weight, making them among the most nutrient-dense crops cultivated at scale anywhere in the world. That nutritional density translates directly into food security value — soy flour, soy milk, and tofu are increasingly affordable protein sources in urban African markets where animal protein remains expensive. Beyond the plate, soybeans are a critical input for the continent’s poultry and aquaculture feed industries, which have expanded rapidly since the early 2000s. Countries like Nigeria and Ghana have seen domestic demand for soy-based animal feed surge alongside growing middle-class consumption of chicken and fish.
Industrial applications add another layer of strategic value. Soybean oil extraction generates both edible oil and protein-rich meal as co-products, making the crop attractive to processors and governments alike. In South Africa, soy oil feeds into biodiesel blending programs. In Ethiopia, export earnings from raw soybeans contribute to foreign exchange reserves. The crop is not merely agricultural — it is geopolitical.
South Africa and Nigeria: The Continental Leaders
South Africa topped African soybean production in 2022 with 1,148,300 tonnes, a figure driven largely by large-scale commercial farming concentrated in Mpumalanga, the Free State, and KwaZulu-Natal. The country’s well-developed grain handling infrastructure — including silos, processing mills, and commodity exchanges — allows farmers to respond efficiently to both domestic demand and export opportunities. South Africa’s Grain SA organization has actively promoted soybean cultivation as a rotation crop alongside maize, improving soil nitrogen levels while generating additional income for producers.
Nigeria followed with 1,060,000 tonnes, a remarkable output for a country where soybean farming is dominated by smallholders rather than commercial estates. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), headquartered in Ibadan, has played a central role in developing improved soybean varieties suited to Nigeria’s humid savanna zones — particularly across Benue, Kaduna, and Kwara states. Federal government programs under successive agricultural transformation agendas have provided subsidized seeds and fertilizer to soybean farmers, helping sustain Nigeria’s position as the continent’s second-largest producer.
Zambia, Benin, and Togo: Rising Producers With Distinct Stories
Zambia produced 475,353 tonnes in 2022, making it the continent’s third-largest soybean producer. The crop has become central to Zambia’s commercial farming sector, particularly in the Central and Eastern provinces, where contract farming arrangements link smallholders to processors and exporters. Companies such as Zambeef and various Chinese agribusiness investors have expanded soybean crushing capacity within the country, creating downstream demand that incentivizes farmers to plant more. Government support through the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) has also channeled subsidized inputs toward soybean cultivation.
Benin’s 306,198 tonnes and Togo’s 236,450 tonnes reveal a West African soybean corridor that often goes unnoticed in global commodity reporting. In Benin, soybean cultivation is concentrated in the northern Borgou and Alibori departments, where the crop has become a key cash earner for women farmers who dominate local processing into fermented soybean products. Togo’s production, similarly, is rooted in the Kara and Savanes regions, where NGO-led programs have introduced improved varieties and linked farmers to regional markets in Ghana and Nigeria. Both countries demonstrate that production growth in Africa is often driven as much by grassroots entrepreneurship as by government policy.
Malawi Through Uganda: Completing the Top Ten
Malawi (220,000 tonnes), Ghana (200,000 tonnes), Ethiopia (190,000 tonnes), Burkina Faso (152,540 tonnes), and Uganda (140,000 tonnes) round out Africa’s 2022 top ten. Each country presents a different production profile. Malawi’s soybean sector is tightly linked to food security programming, with the crop promoted as a complementary protein source alongside maize in a country where stunting rates remain high. Ghana’s Northern Region has seen soybean acreage expand steadily under the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative launched in 2017. Ethiopia, with its diverse agroecological zones spanning highland plateaus and lowland river valleys, grows soybeans primarily in the Oromia and Amhara regions, with some volumes directed toward export via Djibouti. Burkina Faso and Uganda, despite their smaller outputs, are both investing in improved seed systems and farmer cooperatives to accelerate growth.
The Road Ahead for African Soybean Production
Africa’s collective 4.5 million tonnes represents a fraction of global soybean output — Brazil alone produced over 154 million tonnes in 2022 — but the continent’s trajectory is upward. Yield gaps remain enormous: African smallholders often harvest 0.8 to 1.2 tonnes per hectare against a potential of 2.5 to 3 tonnes under improved management. Closing that gap through better seed varieties, rhizobium inoculants, and targeted extension services could double or triple output without expanding the planted area. As African processors, feed manufacturers, and food companies continue to grow, the domestic market for soybeans will only deepen — and the continent’s top producers are positioned to supply it.
