From Malabo to Kampala: A Change of Paradigm in African Agricultural Strategy

When African leaders gathered in Kampala, Uganda, in January 2025 for the African Union (AU) Extraordinary Summit, they brought with them a shared sense of urgency. The result was the adoption of the Kampala Declaration on Building Resilient and Sustainable Agrifood Systems in Africa—an ambitious, continent-wide commitment endorsed by all 55 AU member states. At its core, the declaration lays out a unified, inclusive, and forward-looking roadmap to transform Africa’s agriculture and food systems in response to current realities while preparing for emerging challenges.

What sets the Kampala Declaration apart is its ability to build on existing foundations while pushing for deeper and more systemic change. It reaffirms the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) as the principal framework for agricultural transformation. Yet, it also signals a vital shift — from an agriculture-led growth model to a broader “agrifood systems” approach. This evolution recognizes the intricate interdependencies between food production, nutrition, trade, environmental stewardship, and socio-economic development. It is no longer just about producing more food, but about creating resilient, inclusive, and sustainable food systems that nourish people, bolster economies, and protect natural resources. This paradigm shift aligns closely with the AU’s Agenda 2063 vision of a prosperous, inclusive, and self-reliant Africa.

The Kampala Declaration marks CAADP's strategic evolution, addressing past failures in meeting targets, securing investment, and impacting livelihoods by adopting a holistic "agrifood systems" approach. This new phase prioritizes climate resilience, nutrition security, and inclusivity for smallholder farmers, women, and youth. Translating these promises into action demands unwavering political will and increased domestic budgetary allocations.

Crucially, it requires widespread awareness—not only among citizens but also within their constituencies, including many local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) who remain insufficiently informed about the Declaration’s content and implications. Robust socialization and media engagement are essential to empower communities and their representatives to hold governments accountable and ensure CAADP's genuine, context-specific domestication within national development agendas. The active advocacy of CSOs at all levels is vital, bridging policymakers and grassroots realities. This comprehensive approach, moving beyond rhetoric to public engagement and accountability, is essential for fostering true ownership and driving sustainable progress.

Building on the 2014 Malabo Declaration, the Kampala Declaration introduces a new 10-year CAADP Strategy and Results Framework (2026–2035). This updated framework aims to tackle persistent and emerging challenges, including demographic pressure, poverty, climate change, and food insecurity.

The Declaration outlines six strategic objectives:

• Boosting sustainable production
• Promoting agro-industrialization and trade
• Scaling up investments
• Improving food and nutrition security
• Ensuring equitable livelihoods, and
• Strengthening governance and resilience.

These objectives echo the aspirations of Africa’s farmers, youth, and entrepreneurs, while also supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (especially SDG 2 on Zero Hunger and SDG 13 on Climate Action).

What truly differentiates the Kampala Declaration is its commitment to accountability through clearly defined, time-bound targets to be achieved by 2035. These include

• Increasing agrifood system output by 45%
• Tripling intra-African agricultural trade
• Halving post-harvest losses, and
• Reducing extreme poverty by 50%.

Nutrition is another major focus: the Declaration sets goals to

• Reduce all forms of malnutrition by 25% and to
• Ensure that at least 60% of the population can afford a healthy diet
• Raise the share of locally processed food to 35% of agrifood GDP in order to stimulate local economies.

Inclusion is not merely a guiding principle — it is a cornerstone of the Kampala Declaration. It commits to ensuring that women, youth, and marginalized populations make up at least 30% of those empowered across agrifood value chains. Equally significant is the environmental focus, with a pledge to bring 30% of agricultural land under sustainable management. These commitments reflect the reality that Africa’s food systems must be as diverse and equitable as they are productive and resilient.

A New Level of Monitoring

Turning these bold ambitions into reality will require unprecedented collaboration. The Declaration calls on AU member states, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), civil society, private sector actors, development partners, and research institutions to align efforts, investments, and implementation strategies. Member states have pledged to integrate Kampala’s principles and targets into national and regional investment plans by 2028. Additionally, they have committed to adopting best governance practices in line with CAADP’s core principles. Crucially, the Declaration elevates the role of the CAADP Biennial Review (BR) as the main accountability mechanism for tracking progress, assessing impact, and fostering mutual accountability — a process the AU’s 2023 report emphasized as pivotal. This level of monitoring marks a serious commitment to transparency and evidence-based policymaking.

Collectively, the Kampala Declaration presents a bold, actionable vision for resilient and inclusive agrifood systems on the continent. Compared to its predecessor, the Malabo Declaration, the Kampala Declaration represents a significant step forward. While both fall under the CAADP umbrella, Kampala advances a more integrated approach by fully embracing the concept of agrifood systems. This comprehensive lens spans the entire food value chain — from inputs and production through to processing, marketing, and consumption. It highlights the interconnectedness of food security, economic development, environmental sustainability, and public health.

Notably, nutrition — somewhat peripheral in Malabo — is now central. Explicit targets to combat malnutrition and ensure access to healthy diets position food and nutrition security as critical development priorities, in line with global commitments such as SDG 2. Meanwhile, sustainability and resilience have been institutionalized, with Kampala introducing measurable goals for sustainable land use and environmental conservation — elements that reflect lessons from the last decade and align with global climate ambitions.

Intra-African trade is another area of marked progression. While Malabo acknowledged its potential, Kampala commits to tripling agricultural trade within the continent by 2035 — an ambition that supports the broader goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Moreover, the Kampala Declaration prioritizes integrating smallholders, women, and youth into value chains as key agents of transformation, moving from mere recognition to concrete inclusion targets.

One of the most striking aspects of the Kampala Declaration is its financing ambition. Whereas Malabo reaffirmed the 10% budget allocation to agriculture, Kampala aims to mobilize $100 billion in combined public and private investments over the next decade. Additionally, governance is no longer treated as a broad ideal but elevated as a strategic pillar. The Declaration calls for stronger institutions, clear accountability, and enhanced transparency through robust monitoring systems, especially the CAADP Biennial Review.

Despite the enthusiasm around the Declaration, its implementation is still in the early stages. Although the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan (2026–2035) was officially launched in May 2025, by mid-May only limited evidence exists that individual countries have begun concrete, on-the-ground actions aligned with the new framework. Current efforts are focused on disseminating the Declaration and urging countries to embed its principles into national investment plans.

Ethiopia, however, stands out as an early mover. Building on its Food System Transformation Pathway — developed following the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit — the country has identified 24 “game-changing” solutions across six strategic clusters aligned with global action tracks. Ethiopia is also developing a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework to track its progress against Kampala’s targets, reflecting the Declaration’s call for robust accountability mechanisms.

The Instrumental Role of WHH

Welthungerhilfe (WHH) has also played an instrumental role in shaping the Kampala Declaration. Since 2023, WHH actively contributed to the AU-led consultation process to co-develop the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan (2026–2035). As a member of the Technical Working Group on Inclusivity and Equality, WHH helped ensure that gender equity, youth empowerment, and the rights of marginalized groups were embedded into the strategy’s core. WHH also participated in the AU Technical Consultation and Validation Workshop in Lusaka in August 2024, where civil society, government, and regional actors refined the Declaration’s final content. Its continued engagement during the official AU Extraordinary Summit in January 2025 underscores its long-term commitment to inclusive, rights-based agrifood systems across Africa.

Looking ahead, realizing the transformative potential of the Kampala Declaration hinges on strong political will, coordinated action, and substantial financial investment across the continent. The immediate priority is for member states to domesticate the Kampala Declaration by aligning their national agrifood system investment plans with the CAADP 2026–2035 framework, as Ethiopia has already begun to do. In addition, Ethiopia’s efforts in harmonizing monitoring with its national policies, its national food system pathway, the CAADP strategy, and UNFSS indicators serve as a promising model for evidence-based planning and results-driven implementation.

Building on this foundation, the adoption of standardized monitoring tools by more countries will be crucial for enhancing transparency, ensuring policy coherence, and facilitating valuable learning between nations. Furthermore, the Declaration's synergy with the AfCFTA presents exciting opportunities to strengthen regional trade, support value addition for local producers, and build more resilient food systems that can better withstand shocks. Achieving the ambitious $100 billion investment target will depend on fostering effective public-private partnerships and exploring innovative financing mechanisms, ultimately unlocking opportunities for local communities and driving sustainable growth. Moreover, embracing emerging technologies, empowering youth entrepreneurship, and scaling up climate-smart agriculture will be pivotal in propelling the next wave of agrifood transformation.

How can Africa turn the Kampala Declaration into real progress on the ground?

The answer lies in strong political commitment, better funding from national budgets, and capable institutions to carry out and track actions. Governments must make the Declaration part of their national and regional development plans and follow up with clear monitoring systems like the CAADP Biennial Review. Just as important is involving citizens — raising awareness and encouraging public engagement will help communities hold leaders accountable. Civil society groups play a key role in connecting government policies with local needs. Countries should also share lessons, use digital tools, and link their efforts with wider African goals like the AfCFTA and Agenda 2063. If these steps are taken seriously, the Kampala Declaration can truly deliver resilient, fair, and sustainable food systems across the continent.

Sara Worku ist Country Representative of WHH (Welthungerhilfe) in Ethiopia, based in Addis Abeba.