AFRICA FOOD SYSTEMS FORUM 2025 –
PRESIDENTIAL SUMMIT
PLENARY
Delivering the African Food Systems Promise
Statement
By
Mr. Claver Gatete
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and
Executive Secretary of ECA
Dakar, Senegal
01 September 2025
H.E. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, President of the Republic of Senegal,
Excellencies Heads of State and Government,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honour to address this august gathering at this defining moment for Africa’s agricultural future.
I extend to you warm greetings of the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres.
He had hoped to join this Summit but, due to unavoidable circumstances, could not be with us.
He has nevertheless asked me to assure you of his full support for Africa’s agricultural transformation agenda.
Allow me to begin by expressing my profound gratitude to the Government and People of Senegal for their warm hospitality, and to His Excellency President Bassirou Diomaye Faye for his leadership in hosting us here in Dakar.
I also commend the Africa Food Systems Forum Partners Group and AGRA, together with the United Nations system, for bringing us together at this pivotal moment.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
We meet today at a critical juncture for the world and Africa.
Globally, food systems are under immense pressure.
Conflicts, climate shocks, disrupted supply chains and trade wars have exposed vulnerabilities everywhere.
Rising costs of food and inputs have left millions hungry, even in countries that once enjoyed relative stability.
In Africa, these global crises amplify our own structural challenges.
Our continent holds more than 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land and abundant water resources, yet we imported food worth up to US$115 billion in 2024.
In addition, we are home to the youngest population in the world, with energy and ideas to drive transformation, yet too many of our youth remain unemployed.
We have abundant sunlight and biodiversity, yet climate change threatens our fields and forests more than any other region – even though Africa contributes less than 4% of global climate emissions.
This is the paradox of Africa: a continent with extraordinary potential but still marked by persistent hunger and heavy dependence on external markets.
How can it be that a continent that should be the breadbasket of the world remains unable to feed its own people?
After more than a decade of Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) implementation, Africa has seen stronger institutions, better policy alignment and agricultural growth, yet progress has fallen short, with hunger still rising.
It is a welcome development that the newly adopted CAADP Strategy and Action Plan (2026–2035) seeks to increase agrifood output by 45% and to reduce post-harvest losses by 50% by the end of 2035.
The declaration also seeks to increase the share of locally processed food to 35% of agrifood GDP within the same period.
Financing is therefore crucial as the era of abundant aid is over.
In a post-ODA world, domestic resources and private capital must lead the way.
Pension funds, remittances, diaspora bonds and innovative instruments like green and resilience bonds offer vital opportunities.
And let’s not forget Excellencies, that Africa’s greatest asset is its people – especially its youth.
Our median age is just 19. And by 2050, one in three young people in the world will be African.
If given land, finance, technology and markets, they can not only feed Africa, but the world.
So, what must we do?
I submit six recommendations for your kind consideration.
First, beyond policies, Africa needs implementation and delivery.
We must align budgets with commitments, strengthen accountability and measure progress transparently.
Implementation, not intention, will feed our people.
Second, we must mobilize domestic resources and private investment to cut our huge food import bill.
By expanding our tax base, digitizing the economy to reduce illicit financial flows, reforming expenditure and leveraging assets like pension funds and remittances, we can finance transformation from within.
The private sector including our farmers, processors, and agri-entrepreneurs must also be empowered with affordable finance and risk-sharing instruments.
Third, we must implement the AfCFTA, dismantle the barriers and build regional agricultural value chains.
ECA projects that with full implementation, intra-African exports of agrifood products could rise by nearly 60% by 2045 – equivalent to US$58 billion.
By harmonizing standards, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers and developing food corridors, we can connect Africa’s farmers to Africa’s markets.
This will feed the continent, boost our economies and build resilience against external shocks.
Fourth, we must scale up innovative financing to empower small-scale entrepreneurs, women and youth.
New instruments including green and resilience bonds, diaspora bonds, blended finance must be designed to reach agri-SMEs and cooperatives.
As youth-led enterprises in storage, logistics and agri-tech thrive, they will reduce losses, lower costs and multiply opportunities.
Fifth, we must invest in infrastructure from energy, roads, logistics, irrigation, to digital systems without which transformation will remain a dream.
Farmers cannot sell what they cannot transport, and processors cannot operate without reliable power.
Investing in rural and regional infrastructure is the backbone of modernization and it will yield dividends across trade, industry and integration.
Sixth, Africa’s youth must be placed at the heart of this transformation.
With over 60% of our population under the age of 25, it is impossible to imagine Africa’s future without them.
We must therefore invest deliberately in business incubation hubs, expand access to land and channel resources into agri-tech start-ups.
Entrepreneurship training, embedded in our TVET systems and coupled with practical experience, will give young people the skills to drive modern value chains.
In this way, we can convert their boundless energy into a force for enduring economic transformation.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
Food systems transformation is more than feeding people.
It is about dignity, sovereignty and Africa’s rightful place in the global economy.
As such, linking food systems with climate action through resilience, adaptation and innovative finance must be central to our agenda.
And working together, I am confident that we can turn things around here in Dakar and make Africa a continent of solutions, where innovation, partnership and leadership transform food systems into engines of prosperity.
I thank you for your attention.