Transforming Africa’s Food System Hinges on Cultivating Leadership at all Levels

BY  AGRA President Alice Ruhweza

&

Joost Guijt-Director, Africa Food Fellowship

The Kampala Declaration milestone for Africa’s food systems

How Africa’s food systems advance is a choice that is coming into focus with the launch of the African Union’s Strategy and Plan of Action for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) in Johannesburg (5-7^th May). The Kampala Declaration, adopted in January 2025, begins implementation in January 2026. CAADP is the AU’s vehicle to drive implementation of the Kampala Declaration.  The Declaration has lofty goals like its predecessor the Malabo Declaration that comes to close in December 2025. It seeks a transformation of Africa’s diverse agri-food systems between 2026-2035. With less-than-desired progress by many countries during the Malabo decade, what did we learn to guide the choices and the path forward?

Agri-food policies can and must be improved in today’s complex world. The solution is to marshal a critical mass of African leaders at all levels who can deliver the results the continent’s political leaders seek. The task ahead of us calls for strengthening collaborative leadership and implementation networks at all levels of Africa’s agri-food systems. The opportunity is for CAADP and all partners supporting the Kampala Declaration to embrace and promote investment in the people who can make good change happen.

Africa needs to produce a new generation of ‘doer’ leaders – spanning private, public and civic sectors – capable of navigating complex food systems. Food systems leaders are intentionally nurtured; they are not born. With public budgets and international aid resources under pressure, the most resource-effective choice is to invest in Africa’s human capabilities and networks that can drive the transformation we envision. Men and women across Africa are taking risks and innovating to change agri-food systems. With the right mindset and support networks they will create transformative change.  We need many more people like Kelvin Odoobo.

Kelvin Odoobo, CEO of Shambapro, launched his Rwanda-based  agtech startup to help small farm businesses to access finance, quality inputs and reliable markets. Kelvin learned to have more impact via his experience with the African Food Fellowship (AFF) and AGRA-led Center for African Leaders in Agriculture (CALA). He now integrates a learning tool into the Shambapro App, equipping farmers with essential knowledge in climate-smart agriculture, practical agroecology, and regenerative farming practices. Because Kelvin learned the importance of connecting people, Shambapro has evolved into a platform that goes beyond its original purpose. It now facilitates connections between stakeholders across the agricultural value chain through the Shambapro Hub.  Kelvin runs a fast-growing agribusiness, and he achieves better food sector collaboration while doing so. The first was always his plan; the second he learned to do via the AFF and CALA.  

A Case for Cultivating Food Systems Leadership

Africa’s political leaders signed the Malabo Declaration in 2014 to improve agriculture and food security for improved livelihoods. Africa is significantly off-track to meet the Malabo goals. Between 2015-2021, Africa’s economy grew by an average annual rate of 3-4% while GDP per capita increased more modestly at an average rate owing to population growth outpacing income growth. Other headwinds such as climate shocks, pandemics, and global disruptions exacerbated structural weaknesses in food systems. More than 20% of Africa’s population-257 million people-suffer from food insecurity. Regions like the Sahel and Horn of Africa are experiencing severe hunger problems, with many people at crisis levels. These deeply complex challenges highlight the urgent need for dynamic food systems leaders, in their thousands, to collaborate and inspire innovation to overcome complex food systems challenges with effective multi-pronged solutions.

Countries cultivating dynamic, engaged and collaborative leadership over the past decade have improved their agri-food systems:

1. The Feed Salone program in Sierra Leone was launched in 2023. The country’s quality of leadership is attracting new investment interest. The government is prioritizing food security and economic growth by increasing its agriculture budget from 2% to 7% in 2024, aiming to exceed 10% in the coming years. Investments in infrastructure, agribusiness, and prioritization of value chains (rice, cassava, poultry, cocoa) are creating jobs and reducing reliance on imports.

1. The Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative of Ghana shows how capable leadership operating at implementation and political levels can change food systems. Since 2017, PFJ has significantly increased maize and rice production, cut down on food imports, and generated 1.7 million jobs resulting from economic growth. This is a good example of the impact of good leadership at all levels targeting necessary investments in food systems.

There are many other examples demonstrating that with the right forms of leadership, food systems can change positively and rapidly given the urgent need and the challenges facing food systems in Africa. There are also worrying examples in other countries that are struggling to ensure competent ‘doing’ leadership. Agri-food systems are not changing positively, in part because often well-designed policies remain on paper.

Overcome the implementation barrier by building food systems leaders

The Malabo Declaration highlighted the need for leadership to turn ideas into actions. Many countries struggled due to weak implementation capacity and lack of coordination. Shall we just accept this status quo? No, we will not. The pathway, at modest costs, to implement the Kampala Declaration is being formed including via the CAADP Declaration, Strategy and Plan of Action. New mechanisms and resources must foster many thousands of food systems leaders to implement the many good policies that exist, foster innovation and in so doing, deliver the results Africa’s political leaders and their populations seek.

A systematic approach to develop food systems leaders

To achieve the goals articulated in the Kampala Declaration, we believe it is essential to bring a systems approach to strengthen food systems leadership. We call for:

• African governments to prioritize building food systems leadership in policy and implementation modalities and allocate budgets for food systems leadership development.

• Development partners to invest in and scale up existing food systems leadership development initiatives, such as the Center for African Leaders in Agriculture (CALA) and the African Food Fellowship (AFF), along with others.

• Curation of cross sector networks of food systems leaders. Create new networks that draw together food systems leaders at all levels from public sector, private sector, civil society, development community. This provides a durable learning and support system for food systems leaders to drive implementation.

Africa can’t afford to lose another decade of progress. The US $100 billion investment in agri-food systems sought by the African Union to implement the Kampala Declaration can only be met if investors see ‘doer’ leaders driving positive change that can attract their investments.  Join us in catalyzing a new generation of food systems leaders to achieve the Kampala Declaration’s goals. The time is now!