NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 15 – The African Union (AU) has adopted a new agricultural development strategy aimed at increasing the continent’s agri-food output by 45 percent by 2035, transforming agri-food systems.
The decision follows the African Union Extraordinary Summit on the Post-Malabo Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), held in Kampala, Uganda.
The summit endorsed the 10-year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan, alongside the Kampala CAADP Declaration on Building Resilient and Sustainable Agri-Food Systems in Africa, set for implementation between 2026 and 2035.
“In the Kampala declaration, the 55 AU member states set forth six commitments that should transform and strengthen the agri-food system on the continent,” the AU stated.
The heads of state and government noted Africa’s projected population growth to 2.5 billion by 2050, emphasizing the need for increased agricultural production, productivity, food processing, and trade to meet future food demand.
They pledged to intensify sustainable food production, agro-industrialization, and trade.
The strategy includes ambitious targets such as reducing post-harvest losses by 50 percent, tripling intra-African trade in agri-food products and inputs by 2035, and increasing the share of locally processed food to 35 percent of agri-food GDP by 2035.
Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni urged African leaders to promote value addition, asserting that the continent must move away from dependency on food imports.
“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,” Museveni said.
“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,” he said.
He also called for the elimination of non-tariff barriers (NTBs), which he said disrupt agricultural production.
“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.
African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed concern about the slow progress of the CAADP Programme, implemented since 2014 under the Malabo Declaration.
“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,” Faki said.
He commended the preparatory work by the African Union Commission, AUDA-NEPAD, Regional Economic Communities, member state experts, and partners in drafting the Kampala Declaration.
Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie emphasized the urgent need for collective commitment and action to achieve Africa’s vision for a food-sovereign and prosperous continent.
AU Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment, Amb. Josefa Sacko, described the Kampala Declaration as distinct from the Malabo and Maputo declarations due to its comprehensive strategy and action plan.
“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
The Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) is a cornerstone of the AU’s Agenda 2063, aimed at raising agricultural productivity, increasing public investment in agriculture, and stimulating economic growth through agriculture-led development to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty across Africa.
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