Africa’s food story is at a crossroads. Despite vast arable land and a youthful population eager to innovate, millions still go hungry. Nigeria, like many countries on the continent, continues to rank high on global hunger indexes, even while spending billions on food imports each year. The question is no longer just about food security—whether people have enough to eat—but also about food sovereignty: who controls our food systems and whether they serve our long-term future.
Food security ensures availability and access. According to the FAO, it means that “all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.” But food security alone can be misleading. A country can import rice, wheat, or fish to feed its population and still be “food secure,” even while undermining local farmers and draining foreign reserves.
Food sovereignty, on the other hand, is about ownership and control. It emphasises the right of people to define their own food systems—prioritising local farmers, indigenous diets, and sustainable practices. It shifts power away from dependency on imports and corporate dominance, placing it back into the hands of communities.
Africa urgently needs both. Food security provides immediate relief, but food sovereignty ensures long-term resilience. Without sovereignty, security is fragile—one global supply chain shock or climate crisis away from collapse.
The road ahead demands bold choices. Governments must move beyond policy lip service and invest massively in agriculture, from rural infrastructure to secure farmlands. Smallholder farmers, who produce 70 per cent of Africa’s food, must be supported with finance, technology, and access to markets. Climate-smart practices, value addition, and storage systems are critical to reducing losses and strengthening supply chains.
Equally important is the role of Africa’s youth. At the recent Africa Food Systems Forum 2025 in Senegal, the theme placed young people at the centre of collaboration and innovation. That focus is timely. Youth must see agriculture not just as subsistence but as agribusiness—driving innovation in production, processing, logistics, and agri-tech. As I shared during the Forum, “The nations that control their food systems will control their destinies. Africa must choose sovereignty over dependence, and resilience over hunger.”
This is Africa’s moment. Food security may fill our plates today, but food sovereignty will secure our future. The time to act, decisively and together, is now.
Areo writes from Lagos
