In the wake of the Ukraine war, interrupted supply chains and rising food prices are currently presenting many African countries with enormous challenges, in some places, the supply of basic foodstuffs is at risk. But the issue of food security has not only been high on the agenda of many African countries since the conflict in Eastern Europe. Against this backdrop and as 76% of farms in sub-Saharan Africa are made up of smallholder farms with less than 2ha of farmland, calls for a transformation of the agricultural sector are becoming louder again in development policy. In view of long-term challenges such as the growing population, the degradation of natural resources and the consequences of climate change, it is urgently necessary to increase the productivity of smallholder farms in an ecologically sustainable manner. This insight is not new, yet development policy measures in the field of smallholder promotion have not always brought the desired success in the past. What is the reason for this and how can a sustainable increase in productivity be achieved?