Most young Africans do not dream of working in agriculture. But at the 2026 World Seed Congress in Lisbon this May, the world's largest annual gathering of seed leaders, scientists and innovators, farming looked less like a struggle with the soil and more like a frontier of technology. In a wide-ranging conversation with African Seed Trade Association Secretary General Yacouba Diallo,it emerged that Africa's future in agriculture may depend less on land and rainfall than on its willingness to embrace innovation.