With the continent’s population projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050, the African Union (AU) has adopted a new agricultural development strategy that will see the continent increase its agrifood output by 45 per cent by 2035 and transform its agri-food systems.

This was part of the resolutions reached at the African Union Extraordinary Summit on the Post-Malabo Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) held recently in Kampala, Uganda, with the adoption of the 10-year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan, and the Kampala CAADP Declaration on Building Resilient and Sustainable Agrifood Systems in Africa, which will be implemented from 2026 to 2035.

At the summit, the 55 AU member states set six commitments that should transform and strengthen the agri-food system on the continent. The African Union heads of state and government appreciate the challenges this will pose for food demand, and therefore, raise the need for significant increases in agricultural production, productivity, food processing, and trade.

The continent’s leaders pledged to intensify sustainable food production, agro-industrialisation and trade, as part of new plan to become food secure in a decade.

In line with the plans, the strategy will also see Africa reduce post-harvest losses by 50 per cent, triple intra-African trade in agrifood products and inputs by 2035, and raise the share of locally processed food to 35 per cent of agrifood Gross Domestic Products (GDP) by 2035.

The adoption of the strategy is seen as a pivotal moment that will lay the groundwork for agri-food systems across Africa, and enable countries to act.

The President of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, urged the extraordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) to promote value addition, saying that Africa cannot continue importing food to feed its teeming population.

He said, “this Africa of having no food and begging is not the real Africa, but the colonial and neo-colonial Africa. It is a shame. The battle for value addition has been a big one because lobbies want to keep Africa as a raw-materials-producing continent. Adding value to agricultural products ensures vertical integration in the agricultural sector—from the garden to the table and from the farm to the wardrobe.”

On the issue of non-tariff barriers (NTBs), he called on fellow leaders to open up the borders since they continue to undermine the advancement of agriculture in Africa.

“Uganda easily produces all types of agricultural products. However, production is disrupted when some brother countries say they have bumper crops and delicense Ugandan products,” he added.

On his part, the AUC Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, noted that the ambitious CAADP Programme has been implemented since 2014 within the framework of the Malabo Declaration. He, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the rate of progress.

“The various biennial evaluations of the commitments made by Member States, initiated in 2017 under this declaration, certainly show progress towards achieving the set objectives, but at an unsatisfactory pace,” Mahamat said.

The AUC Chairperson welcomed the preparatory work undertaken by the African Union Commission, AUDA-NEPAD, the regional economic blocs, experts from member states, and technical and financial partners in preparing the Kampala Declaration.

“It symbolises the sum total of all the efforts made upstream in identifying all the negative factors that lie at the root of the low rate of the attainment of our set objectives for the agric sector on the continent,” he said.

The Ethiopian President, Taye Atske Selassie, said there is an urgent need for renewed collective commitment and concerted action to achieve Africa’s shared vision for a food-sovereign and prosperous Africa.

“This summit marks a defining moment for Africa, where we will be able to chart out the course of the continent’s agri-food system,” Selassie said.

The AU Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, Ambassador Josefa Sacko said the Kampala declaration was different from the Malabo and Maputo declarations in the sense that it included a comprehensive strategy and action plan.

“This will allow member states to begin implementing immediately after the adoption,” she told the heads of state and government on the last day of the extraordinary summit.

“We now have a clear roadmap, a theory of change that outlines the pathway to transformation, realistic and implementable strategic objectives, a broad policy scope enhancing food system approaches, and targets that reflect the continent’s aspirations,” she said, adding that the inclusive design process ensures that the continent is well prepared to work towards the agriculture transformation vision outlined in Agenda 2063.

Sacko said the adoption of the new CAADP strategy and action plan 2026-2035 in Kampala would shape the transformation of Africa’s agrifood systems over the next decade.

In her submission, the Norway’s State Minister and representative of development partners, Ms Bjørg Sandkjær, noted that Africa’s new strategy emphasises the critical role of agri-food systems in economic growth and ensuring food security, improved nutrition and sustainable health outcomes for all.

“We commend this bold vision, which aligns with the continent’s broader aspirations for prosperity, resilience and inclusive development through the AU Agenda 2063,” Sandkjær said.