Report Highlights Progress and Persistent Fragmentation in Africa’s Agriculture Food Systems

By Jean-Pierre 

Africa’s agrifood systems have achieved measurable gains since the 1990s, including a decline in extreme poverty from 58 percent  to 35 percent, improved child nutrition, and higher life expectancy. Yet, these improvements are uneven across regions and domains, leaving persistent gaps in resilience, equity, and sustainability; reveals the Africa Food Systems (AFS) report.

“Over the past 30 years, Africa’s agrifood systems have made significant strides, but these gains remain fragmented across regions, domains, and time periods, and are often disconnected from broader food system outcomes.,” note the report authors.

The status of Africa Food System report launched early this week in Dakar, Senegal during the Africa Food Systems forum- a high-level gathering for the continent’s Agri-food systems transformation, notes that productivity growth has not translated into food security.

According to the AFS report, agricultural output has grown at 4.3 percent annually since 2000, the fastest globally. However, one in three children remain stunted, and the number of undernourished people is rising, “exposing the disconnect between production gains and nutritional outcomes”. 

The new report titled “Drivers of Change and Innovation” says commitments are driving progress, but they remain narrow. Continental frameworks such as the Maputo, Malabo, and Kampala Declarations have spurred public investment and policy reforms, report authors noted adding  still, gains are often concentrated in production, with limited spillover to nutrition, climate resilience, and inclusivity. 

“Africa’s agricultural transformation agenda, anchored in the 2003 Maputo Declaration and expanded in the 2014 Malabo Declaration, has driven significant policy commitments and measurable progress (AUC, 2023),” states the AFS report.

AFS report also reveals hunger trends are reversing. Data shows the prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) fell to 15percent by 2015 but rose above 19 percent by 2022, driven by conflict, climate shocks, and COVID-19, pushing Africa off-track from achieving SDG 2 targets. 

Financing dynamics are shifting, according to the status of Africa food systems report. Declining Official Development Assistance (ODA) and competing global priorities are reshaping the funding landscape,  noted the study adding this requires catalytic use of public resources to leverage larger flows fromDevelopment Finance Institutions, International Financial Institutions, and private capital. 

The new report is advocating for systemic transformation. “Future progress depends on integrated strategies combining governance, infrastructure, finance, and sustainability, reinforced by spatial approaches such as food baskets and corridors, and anchored in strong knowledge systems,” noted the report launched in Dakar.

The report revealed that the continent’s gains in Agriculture are, however, often narrowly concentrated in production domains and have not consistently translated into improvements in food system resilience, nutrition, or environmental outcomes. 

For instance, Africa still holds the world’s highest child stunting rate, affecting one in three children under five (33percent). It has also experienced the slowest decline in stunting since 1990 (Skoufias, 2018). 

Today, a shift in global development finance, characterized by declining Official Development Aid (ODA) budgets and competing priorities, compounds the urgency for African governments to take a systemic approach to food systems transformation, states the report. “The post-COVID world has ushered in a new financing landscape, where public grants must act as catalysts to crowd in larger volumes of capital from development finance institutions (DFIs), international financial institutions (IFIs), and the private sector,” says the study.

The status of AFS report assesses the performance and trajectory of Africa’s agrifood systems over the past three decades. It uses five indicators: (i) Food supply chains; (ii) Diets; (iii) Food environment; (iv) Systemic drivers; and (iv) Outcomes.

The report underscores, sustained transformation must be anchored in strong knowledge support systems to ensure that both policies and investments are evidence-driven, adaptive, and inclusive. “Without this foundation, Africa risks remaining on a trajectory of fragmented gains that are insufficient for building a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable agrifood future.”