Comprendre les enjeux de l'agriculture

The African Union held an extraordinary summit on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) from January 9 to 11, 2025, in Kampala, Uganda. This event provided an opportunity for member states to define an agricultural development plan for the next decade.

Increasing African agri-food production by 45% is the main goal of the African Union for the next decade (2026-2035). In a statement released on Monday, January 13, the organization specified that this decision is part of the new Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which was adopted following the extraordinary summit held in Kampala from January 9 to 11.

According to the authorities, this roadmap is designed to strengthen agricultural productivity, food processing, and trade across the continent to improve food security and meet the growing food demand driven by population growth.

“The strategy also aims to reduce post-harvest losses by 50%, triple intra-African trade in agri-food products and inputs by 2035, and increase the share of locally processed food to 35% of the agri-food GDP,” the statement reads.

Despite these ambitions, achieving the goals defined in Kampala will require overcoming several structural challenges. For example, public support for the agricultural sector remains insufficient in most countries across the continent. In a study published last December, the Farm Foundation highlighted that Ethiopia is the only country in Sub-Saharan Africa to allocate at least 10% of its national budget to direct support for the agricultural sector, thus adhering to the Malabo commitment, initially adopted during the Maputo Summit in 2003.

On the other hand, agricultural financing is also a crucial issue. According to FAO, African agri-food systems suffer from a funding and investment deficit, limiting their performance. A study conducted by Aceli Africa in 2023, titled “Bridging the Financing Gap: Unlocking the Impact Potential of Agricultural SMEs in Africa,” confirms this, estimating that the financing gap for agriculture amounts to $180 billion per year in Sub-Saharan Africa.

As Africa’s population is expected to grow by nearly 64% to reach 2.5 billion people by 2050, transforming agri-food systems on the continent represents much more than a sectoral issue. It is a matter of food sovereignty and economic and social stability.

 

Source: Agence Ecofin