The Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF) brings together heads of state, ministers, policymakers, the private sector, and civil society to discuss and advance the transformation of Africa’s food system, with this year’s agenda focused on investment and finance, boosting jobs and opportunities for women and young people, and building climate resilience.

It’s the first gathering since the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) came into force – a 10 year plan to end hunger and cut poverty by boosting productivity, climate resilience and environmental sustainability, cutting food waste, and increasing intra-Africa trade – alongside the Kampala Declaration, a legal commitment by African leaders to fund it by mobilising $100 billion in public and private finance including committing 10% of national income to agriculture.

It’s urgently needed. Decades of underinvestment means Africa’s food systems woefully unprepared for the challenges ahead from conflict, energy and fertiliser price spikes. The war in Iran has seen fertiliser prices rise by 30-45% in many parts of Africa, while the climate-fuelled “super” El Niño threatens widespread crop failure, surging food prices and a sharp increase in hunger, and could cost African producers nearly $327 million in lost income.

Many more details on the context in this Family Farmers for Climate Action detailed media brief below.

Farmers call to action
Farmers groups representing 250 million African smallholders are attending the African Food Systems Forum to call on governments and funders to:

1. Recognise smallholders and their organisations as important economic actors, investors, entrepreneurs and partners in development and institutionalize farmers’ participation in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of agricultural policies and investments, including the CAADP Kampala Declaration.
2. Invest in smallholder agriculture and support greater private sector investment through blended finance, affordable credit, agricultural insurance, guarantees, climate finance, and financial products adapted to agricultural production cycles.
3. Build resilience by prioritising investment in soil health, water management, climate-smart and regenerative agriculture and agroecology, locally adapted seed systems, agricultural insurance, early-warning systems, renewable energy and climate-resilient infrastructure.
4. Support women and youth to build careers and businesses in agriculture – including through the removal of structural barriers such as land ownership.