<p>The agri-food value chain starts with agricultural production and finishes with final consumption. Every level of the chain requires the consumption of energy. Finding sustainable renewable energy solutions to support this chain can be one of the most effective techniques for slowing the rise in greenhouse gas emissions from agrifood production and processing. It can also help address climate change effects, reducing food insecurity and poverty, promoting sustainable agriculture, creating jobs and increasing wealth necessary for internal and sustainable African development. Among renewable energies, solar energy may be the most appealing choice for increasing agrifood chain performance in Africa. This study assesses solar energy uses in agriculture, with a focus on contemporary research conducted within the last decade. It discusses solar energy as both a clean environmental technology and the most reliable source of energy. It describes the amount of innovation in technologies such as irrigation, drying, cooling, greenhouses, agrivoltaics, various instances of agricultural mechanization machinery and agricultural product processing devices, as well as their social, technical, economic and environmental advantages. These systems are low-maintenance, inexpensive, and ecologically friendly when compared to classical systems, making them the best options for agricultural applications in general, and distant rural locations in particular. It can be concluded that solar energy is a critical and necessary revolutionary energy source for the transition to a new sustainable agro-ecological sector in Africa and its rural areas.</p>