AU endorses 10-year plan to build resilient agrifood systems in Africa
The African Union (AU) has endorsed a 10-year plan to build resilient and sustainable agrifood systems in Africa. The Kampala Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Declaration and its 10-year strategy and action plan (2026–2035) were approved at an extraordinary summit of the assembly in Kampala, Uganda, on 9–11 January 2025.
As of 2023, none of the AU member states were on track to meet the Malabo Declaration targets by 2025. The ‘Malabo Declaration on accelerated agricultural growth and transformation for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods’, adopted in 2014, is a 10-year set of goals for African agriculture expected to be met by 2025. These goals include reducing poverty and ending hunger.
However, as of 2023, public commitment to investing in agriculture in Africa was below expectation and inadequate, with only a few countries on track to meet the goal of allocating 10% of public expenditure to agriculture annually, as agreed in Maputo in 2003. This observation is consistent with the findings of the 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report. In 2003 Heads of State and Government endorsed the Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security in Africa containing several important decisions regarding agriculture but prominent among them was the “commitment to the allocation of at least 10 percent of national budgetary resources to agriculture and rural development policy implementation within five years”.
With 20% of Africa’s population experiencing hunger and 58% facing food insecurity, the continent is struggling to meet basic food and nutrition security needs. Africa’s population is projected to rise to 2.5 billion by 2050. To meet the anticipated food demand of this growing population, the CAADP Kampala Declaration outlines key commitments, including increasing agrifood output by 45% by 2035, mobilizing USD 100 billion in investments for agrifood systems, achieving zero hunger and improving nutrition, empowering women and youth in agriculture, and enhancing governance in agrifood systems.
CAADP is an African Union Agenda 2063 continental initiative that aims to raise agricultural productivity, increase public investment in agriculture, and stimulate economic growth through agriculture-led development, thus helping African countries eliminate hunger and reduce poverty. Launched in 2003 following the Maputo Declaration and reaffirmed in 2014 in Equatorial Guinea with the Malabo Declaration, CAADP focuses on improving food security and nutrition and increasing incomes in Africa’s farming-based economies. It is the most ambitious and comprehensive agricultural reform effort ever undertaken in Africa and represents a fundamental shift toward development that is fully owned and led by African governments.
Reflections on the place of livestock in the Kampala Declaration
On the sidelines of the AU summit in Kampala, Appolinaire Djikeng, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), spoke about the new CAADP strategy and action plan and ILRI’s readiness to contribute towards it.
Question: The call for deliberation on the post-Malabo CAADP agenda / Kampala CAADP declaration was spurred by the fact that the continent was not on track to meet the Malabo CAADP goals and targets by 2025. Why weren’t the targets and goals met and what can be done differently to ensure that what is outlined in the CAADP strategy and action plan 2026–2035 and the Kampala Declaration are met?
Djikeng: Various factors may have contributed to not meeting the Malabo CAADP targets and goals. Some of the targets may not have been met because the level of investment, for example the portion of national gross domestic product allocated was inadequate. Countries need to hold themselves accountable and deliver on their promises.
It is also important to look at agriculture holistically. In previous CAADPs, the livestock component was missing. So even if we had set the proper targets, for example reducing poverty and improving nutrition, these could not be met without proper investment and attention to the livestock component. Previous CAADPs also emphasized production at the expense of productivity. The focus will now be on productivity, which aims to increase output from available resources, for example, farmland and livestock.
It is also worth noting that the absence of systems to ascertain what has been achieved may also be affecting the levels of progress being reported. Fortunately, we can learn from past experiences and use the time before the onset of the CAADP 2026–2035 to plan effectively, set realistic targets and goals, and identify the required resources. This was probably done in the past, but unfortunately not in a way that can be monitored.
Question: The CAADP 2026–2035 strategy and action plan aim to build resilient and sustainable agrifood systems in Africa. What is the place of livestock and how is ILRI positioned to align with and contribute to the delivery of this agenda and its commitments?
Djikeng: Some of the Kampala CAADP agenda commitments, such as achieving zero hunger and improving nutrition, are directly related to livestock. For example, you cannot improve nutrition without including animal-source foods in diets to ensure balanced diets. Aquaculture is emerging as a fast-growing sector that not only provides animal proteins but also provides employment and therefore needs to be considered when talking about livestock.
ILRI’s research, innovation and impact, and corporate strategies are well aligned to contribute to this agenda. The Kampala CAADP Declaration aligns with our work on climate change adaptation and mitigation, and One Health (an integrated approach to optimizing the health of humans, animals and the environment).
ILRI staff were key members of the technical working group that contributed to the Kampala CAADP Declaration from our work on animal agriculture and food systems and can therefore identify with it. The new portfolio for CGIAR research programs and accelerators is around agrifood systems, specifically adaptation to proper breeding and sustainable animal and aquatic foods systems, so we do not need to realign our systems to fit the CAADP agenda.
The Kampala CAADP Declaration has identified Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) as a disease that must be eradicated by 2030. With support from various funders, including the Australian and UK governments, and the Gates Foundation, ILRI developed a thermo-stable vaccine, which is one of the vaccines that will be used in the PPR eradication process. This will be a key contribution from ILRI. I appreciate my ILRI and CGIAR colleagues for their efforts that have led to the CAADP Kampala Declaration and our funders who have enabled us to conduct impactful research.
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