A new Impact, Learning and Foresight Report published by AGRA says that Africa has made significant progress in strengthening its agrifood systems over the past two decades.

But more work is needed to transform the continent’s food systems.

The report invites governments, farmers, businesses, financiers and researchers to build a stronger alliance to ensure greater progress over the next twenty years.

The report titled “Africa’s agrifood system transformation and the path ahead” says Africa’s progress must also be understood within its longer historical context.

From the recurring famines and crop failures that marked the 1980s, the continent reached a turning point with the 2003 Maputo Declaration and the first Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, which established a shared African agenda for agricultural transformation.

Drawing on two decades of evidence and learning, the report argues that Africa’s agrifood sector is investable, strategic and deeply context-specific, but that production gains must more consistently translate into income, dignity, resilience and opportunity for farmers.
Movement over the last two decades

The report, commissioned to mark 20 years of AGRA’s work on the continent, points to real movement over the last two decades.

The report says agriculture gross value-added growth rose from about 2.3% to almost 4%, while farm output doubled in real terms after 2005.

Farmer incomes have doubled, and cereal yields have increased by about 40%. Yet the gains have been uneven and remain insufficient.

Productivity gaps persist, hunger has risen, and too many farmers still struggle to convert production into reliable income.

Over the last two decades, AGRA and its partners helped strengthen critical capacities, supporting 118 seed companies, more than 650 improved seed varieties, over 25,000 agro-dealers, 33,000 community extensionists, five million farmers trained in soil health and climate-smart practices, and nearly 800 scientists.

AGRA also helped leverage approximately USD 691 million for national agricultural investment plans. The report said these are contributions within a much wider journey, not a claim of sole credit for Africa’s progress.

Established in 2006 with former Ghanaian UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as its first board chair, AGRA is a pan-African institution focused on scaling agricultural innovations that help small-scale farming enterprises increase incomes, improve livelihoods, and enhance food security.

“Twenty years of evidence show that Africa’s agrifood sector can move when the conditions are right. The task now is to turn that progress into income, resilience, dignity and opportunity for farmers.

"That will require a renewed alliance that brings governments, farmers, businesses, finance, researchers and development partners around a shared agenda for farmer prosperity,” said Alice Ruhweza, President, AGRA.

Major priorities for next 20 years
Looking ahead, the report identifies three priorities that must be acted on together. Farmers must be able to produce reliably and resiliently.

Production must be linked to markets, processing, trade and jobs so that farmers capture more value.

Countries also need lasting institutional capability, finance, data, coordination and accountability to turn plans into sustained delivery. Progress in one area will not be enough if the others lag behind.

These priorities respond to three connected constraints described in the report as the productivity, value and capability traps.

The productivity trap limits reliable, resilient production. The value trap prevents production from consistently translating into income, jobs, processing, trade, and competitiveness.

The capability trap weakens the institutions, finance, coordination, data and accountability needed to turn good plans into lasting delivery.

The report therefore calls for a renewed alliance.

“Agriculture can no longer be treated as the responsibility of agriculture actors alone. Farmer prosperity depends on choices made across finance, trade, water, energy, infrastructure, health, nutrition, education, climate, science and industry. If the outcomes affect the whole economy, the responsibility must sit in many hands.”

“Progress becomes transformation only when productivity is restored, value is retained, and capability is sustained. The question for the next decade is not only what Africa can produce, but whether the systems around farmers allow them to prosper,” said Hailemariam Dessalegn, AGRA Board Chair and former Prime Minister of Ethiopia.

The report calls on governments, investors, researchers, businesses, financiers, civil society, the media and development partners to move beyond isolated projects and invest in integrated systems.

The report says that when farmers cannot produce reliably, food prices rise, nutrition suffers, import bills grow, jobs are lost, and young people lose confidence in the rural economy.

When farmers prosper, countries build stronger markets, healthier communities, more resilient landscapes and more inclusive growth.