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GAME INDUSTRY TRENDS ANALYSIS 2024
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African Countries Adopt A Strategy To Unlock Agricultural Potential
African countries adopt a strategy to unlock agricultural potential
By Glenneis Kriel | 15 January 2025 | 3:37 pm
Government and private sector will have to work together to get real results from the recently signed the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Strategy and Action Plan.
African Union members recently adopted a strategy and action plan aimed at unlocking the agricultural potential of Africa at the African Union’s Extraordinary Summit in Kampala, Uganda.
The 10-year CAADP strategy has reportedly been developed over the past 10 months, following directives from African heads of state and government, and is set to run from 2026 to 2035.
It builds on the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods, adopted in 2014.
As part of the commitment to intensify sustainable food production, agro-industrialisation and trade, countries undertook to increase agrifood output by 45%, reduce post-harvest losses by 50%, triple intra-African trade in agrifood products and inputs, and raise the share of locally processed food to 35% of agrifood GDP by 2035.
In terms of investment and financing for accelerated agrifood systems transformation, commitments include the mobilisation of US$100 billion (about R1,9 trillion) in public and private sector investment in African agrifood systems, while ensuring that at least 10% of annual public expenditure is allocated to agrifood systems and at least 15% of agrifood GDP is reinvested into the sector.
In terms of food security, there is a commitment to achieve zero hunger in all African Union member states, ensuring that 60% of the population can afford a healthy meal and reducing stunting, wasting and overweightness by 25% by 2035.
Other commitments touch on inclusivity and equitable livelihoods, the building of resilient agrifood systems, and the strengthening of agrifood systems governance.
John Steenhuisen, South Africa’s minister of agriculture who attended the event, told Farmer’s Weekly that the strategy and plan was important for South Africa and the rest of Africa because it aligned agricultural priorities on the continent, fostering greater trade, standard setting and knowledge sharing.
“The plan and strategy encourage member states to foster policy coherence, enhance coordination across sectors, and strengthen national ownership of initiatives. This will result in improved policies that build infrastructure, improve agricultural practices and strengthen food systems.”
Steenhuisen added that CAADP focused on partnerships with partner and donor countries, allowing access to financial opportunities for investment in infrastructure, research and development to strengthen domestic manufacturing and repair food processing machinery for the smallholder sector, for which access to finance was a critical enabler.
Steenhuisen said South Africa was the leading agricultural country on the continent and for this reason played an important leadership in the continental agricultural agenda.
Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz, said CAADP set ambitious goals and urged member countries of the African Union to allocate 10% of their annual budgets to agriculture.
Far too many demands for resources in most of these countries, however, resulted in agriculture spending remaining below these targets. “Even South Africa doesn’t score well in the targets,” he said.
He said big conferences such as these helped to stimulate discussion and evaluate the sector’s profile, but real progress would require the private sector and dedicated government support to boost each African country’s agricultural output.
“We have seen first hand the benefit of a robust private sector in South Africa. Looking at the data, it is clear that South Africa is an outlier in Africa. The sector has more than doubled in value and volume terms since 1994 thanks to the adoption of new production technologies, better farming skills, growing demand, and progressive trade policies,” he said.
He said other African countries should see what they could learn from the South African success story of private sector-led growth if they were serious about agricultural development.
This would include the extension of title deeds or tradable leases to farmers and agribusinesses for attracting investment, investments in infrastructure for improving value chains, an embrace of technological advancements in seeds, genetics and agrochemicals to boost productivity, limited trade and commodity price interventions, and support for commercial farming.
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