The recent summit in Kampala from January 9th to 11th, 2025, held significant promise for Africa’s future in agriculture, with the ambitious goal of raising agricultural productivity, increasing public investment, and addressing poverty and hunger across the continent.
Despite the optimistic rhetoric, the event underscored the deep-rooted challenges Africa faces in transitioning from a reliance on food imports to a more self-sustaining agricultural model.
The summit was marked by the unveiling of a comprehensive 10-year strategy aimed at boosting food security and economic development through agriculture-led growth. This effort, which forms a cornerstone of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, seeks to address the continent’s vulnerability to food insecurity, with over 280 million Africans currently suffering from chronic hunger. It comes at a time when Africa’s growing dependence on imports for basic foodstuffs, despite its vast agricultural potential, has raised serious concerns about the sustainability of the continent’s food systems.
A major part of the summit’s discussions focused on ensuring the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Strategy and Action Plan, a key framework for agricultural reform first launched in 2003 and reaffirmed through subsequent declarations in 2014. The strategy, which will run from 2026 to 2035, aims to reduce food insecurity, improve infrastructure, and promote climate-resilient agriculture. A critical aspect of the plan is empowering smallholder farmers—many of whom are vulnerable and marginalized—and ensuring greater participation from women and youth in agricultural development.
Uganda’s Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja, struck a powerful note when she highlighted Africa’s paradox: despite the continent’s rich agricultural resources, it spends up to US$100 billion annually on food imports. Nabbanja called for concrete proposals to address this unsustainable situation, stressing that for Africa to secure its future, it must start feeding itself. This sentiment resonated throughout the summit, where calls for action and accountability echoed among African leaders and stakeholders.
Ambassador Josefa Sacko, the African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment, emphasized that the strategy aims to increase food production, expand value addition, create jobs, and build resilient agrifood systems. Sacko also stressed the need for inclusivity, ensuring that marginalized groups, particularly women and youth, have access to resources and opportunities within the agrifood sector.
The summit also featured valuable insights from Ethiopia, which has been a frontrunner in agricultural investment, with Dr. Girma Amente, Ethiopia’s Minister of Agriculture, detailing how his country has successfully aligned its national agricultural investment plan (NAIP) with the CAADP framework. Ethiopia’s commitment to increasing its agricultural budget and achieving the 6% annual growth target set by CAADP has led to improvements in crop yields and food production, showcasing how increased public investment can yield tangible results.
However, despite the high-level discussions, the summit highlighted a concerning gap between intent and implementation. The final day of the meeting, attended by heads of state and government, underscored the difficult task of moving beyond planning into action. While the vision for Africa’s agricultural transformation is clear, the challenge lies in overcoming entrenched attitudes, particularly the continued prioritization of food imports over local agricultural development. Many African nations are still committed to maintaining the status quo of heavy reliance on imported food, leaving little room for optimism about significant change in the near future.
In conclusion, while the Kampala summit represented a key moment for Africa’s agricultural future, it also revealed the persistent barriers to progress. The continent’s agricultural transformation will require not just high-level declarations and strategic frameworks, but a fundamental shift in priorities—moving from short-term solutions like imports to long-term, sustainable agricultural practices. The real test will be whether African governments can shift from planning to execution and deliver on the promises made during this historic summit.
