Keypoints:
- CAADP’s new strategy urges acceleration
- Tools help align food system actors
- UNFSS+4 offers a key turning point
AGRIFOOD system transformation is at the heart of the new Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which aims to build resilient and sustainable food systems across the continent.
This focus is no accident. The choices made about food—what, when, how, and by whom it is produced, processed, stored, transported, marketed, prepared, and consumed—affect critical aspects of the human condition: food and nutrition security, decent employment, climate mitigation, environmental health, and social resilience.
The call to accelerate change
The Kampala Declaration, which introduces the new CAADP Strategy and Action Plan, places a strong emphasis on acceleration. As Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, the African Union’s Special Envoy for Food Systems, has stressed, progress has been too slow. The Food Systems Countdown Report led by the FAO shows that just 20 of its 42 global food system indicators are moving in the right direction—and none are moving fast enough to meet the SDGs.
Agrifood transformation: not a single machine
Transforming agrifood systems is no simple feat. These systems are complex webs of stakeholders, incentives, policies and investments that do not automatically align.
Rather than imagining them as a single machine requiring horsepower, we see them as a richly woven fabric. Every thread—whether farmers, traders, processors, policymakers or civil society—contributes colour, strength and coherence. When the threads are tangled, the fabric frays. When aligned, the weave is strong, resilient and beautiful.
For Africa, the stakes could not be higher. Most livelihoods depend on farming, and food choices directly affect people’s health, productivity and wellbeing in both rural and urban areas.
Tools to tighten and align the weave
Our task, as food system practitioners and supporters, is to help tighten and align the weave. Over the past eight years, we have developed a suite of tools through partnerships involving hundreds of experts and institutions, including eight African countries. These tools are meant to support decision-makers in making catalytic, strategic and evidence-based choices.
We call on African food system leaders across sectors to engage with these tools—adapting, improving, and, most importantly, using them.
Seven practical tools to drive transformation
- Food System Dashboards
These dashboards consolidate data from multiple sources to identify food system opportunities and vulnerabilities, helping policymakers target scarce resources for maximum impact. - The Policy Coherence Tool
This shows whether policies in different sectors align behind shared food system goals. It helps avoid fragmented policymaking and improve intersectoral coordination. - The Political Economy Assessment Tool
This tool identifies the political openings that can enable progress in food system reform—making analysis relevant in the messy realities of governance. - The 3FS Tool
This maps public budgets from governments, development finance institutions (DFIs) and donors against food system priorities, enabling advocates to push for smarter financial alignment. - Diet Quality Questionnaire
A five-minute survey that rapidly assesses the nutritional quality of diets. As a leading indicator of crisis, poor diet quality often signals trouble before hunger statistics emerge. - I-CAN: Climate Action and Nutrition
Launched at COP27, this tool helps align climate and nutrition goals by highlighting where integrated action can deliver co-benefits. It’s a resource for climate and food champions alike. - The Food System Countdown Initiative
This initiative enables ongoing tracking of national and local progress in food system transformation, supporting transparency and accountability.
A call to action: use the tools, shape the future
Together, with our partners, we aim to meet Dr Mayaki’s challenge of acceleration. Yes, food system change is hard. But the opportunities are enormous.
These tools can help governments and communities describe their systems, diagnose what is working (and what is not), prioritise actions, and formulate implementable, financeable projects with impact.
They can help us weave a fabric that is strong, inclusive, and capable of withstanding shocks—be they economic, political or climatic.
UNFSS+4: An opportunity not to waste
In these turbulent times, with trade, aid and debt all under pressure, now is not the moment to hesitate. We must keep calm—and speed up. The UN Food Systems Summit +4 (UNFSS+4) is a vital chance to pick up the weaving shuttle and strengthen Africa’s agrifood systems.
Let us seize this moment to accelerate and realise the continent’s vast potential—to meet its people’s needs today, and secure the future for generations to come. This is how we will build the Africa we want.
Dr Haddad is Executive Director of GAIN. Estherine Fotabong is the Director of Agriculture, Food Security & Environmental Sustainability AUDA-NEPAD.
