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By Jefferson Massah, jeff.massah24@gmail.com /+231886828622
Dakar, Senegal — The President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Ms. Alice Ruhweza, has urged governments, private sector actors, researchers, farmers, and civil society to accelerate collective action to strengthen Africa’s food systems. She made the call at the opening of the 2025 Africa Food Systems Forum, held in Dakar, Senegal.
In her remarks, Ruhweza praised the Government and people of Senegal for their warm hospitality, describing it as a reflection of Pan-African solidarity. She stressed that the Forum was more than just a meeting, but “a call to accelerate our collective commitment to strengthen Africa’s food systems.”
Highlighting recent progress, Ruhweza pointed to smallholder farmers adopting technologies such as drought-resistant seeds, mobile-based market information, and smart irrigation systems. She also underscored the growing leadership of women in agriculture, the dynamism of youth engagement, and the rise of agribusiness startups and digital platforms.
“These examples show us that Africa’s agriculture is shifting from subsistence to enterprise, creating jobs, boosting exports, and moving towards a climate-resilient and environmentally sound future,” she said.
However, Ruhweza cautioned that the continent still faces significant challenges. She noted that in 2024, about 673 million people globally faced hunger, with Africa carrying a disproportionate share. The continent also continues to spend over $70 billion annually on food imports, while youth unemployment, infrastructure gaps, and climate vulnerabilities hinder agricultural growth.
She called for urgent alignment behind the African Union’s Kampala CAADP Declaration (2026–2035), which commits member states to bold targets, including increasing agrifood output by 45 percent, reducing post-harvest losses by half, tripling intra-African agrifood trade, and achieving zero hunger by 2035.
To realize the ambitions of the AU Kampala CAADP Declaration, Ms. Ruhweza emphasized the need for urgent, coordinated action across the continent. She called on governments to domesticate the Declaration by integrating it into national strategies and budgets, ensuring clear targets, resources, and accountability. Increasing public investment in agriculture, she noted, is essential to meet and surpass previous continental commitments, as “we cannot grow what we do not fund.”
She highlighted the importance of empowering Africa’s youth and women—not merely as beneficiaries, but as central actors driving agribusiness and innovation. Equally critical, she stressed, is the creation of strong policy and regulatory environments that inspire investor confidence and attract private capital.
Ruhweza also underscored the transformative potential of infrastructure development—particularly in transport corridors, energy access, irrigation, and digital systems—describing these as game changers for Africa’s food future. Finally, she called for the adoption and scaling of technology and innovation, both global and locally developed, to unlock growth and resilience in the sector.
“The African agrifood sector is much more than farming. It is a powerful engine for transformation, hope, and prosperity,” Ruhweza declared. “By nurturing this sector, we are investing in a brighter, more sustainable future for the continent and the world.”
She reaffirmed AGRA’s commitment to working with smallholder farmers, governments, civil society, and private actors to build a resilient and inclusive food system.
The Africa Food Systems Forum opens against the backdrop of a new World Bank report that exposes a troubling paradox in the continent’s agricultural sector. Despite rising food production, hunger levels in Africa continue to grow.
In its study, “Transport Connectivity for Food Security in Africa,” the Bank argues that the problem is not output but logistics. Weak supply chains, poor infrastructure, and prohibitively high transport costs are preventing food from reaching the people who need it most. The result: bumper harvests stranded in rural areas while urban and food-deficit communities face soaring prices and empty markets.
What distinguishes this report from previous assessments is its focus on solutions. Beyond diagnosing the crisis, the World Bank outlines an actionable roadmap to fix Africa’s food transport bottlenecks. Central to the plan are 50 targeted infrastructure investments designed to improve connectivity and ensure that food moves efficiently across the continent.
