Chairman of the Africa Food Systems Parliamentary Network (AFSPaN) Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw has called for increased financing for agriculture as governments prepare to roll out a new strategy for the development of Africa’s food systems. He says members of parliament in various countries should engage their finance ministries to dedicate more resources to funding the agricultural and related sectors.
“We need the finance and money for all the innovations and ideas. Money and financing from development partners is not enough. We need in-country finance ministers to commit national budgets to some of these initiatives,” Dr. Jasaw who is also MP for Wa East and former ranking member of the Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs committee in Parliament, said.
He was speaking at a side event on “Parliamentary Leadership in Action: Public Policies and Investments to Transform Agrifood Systems in Africa” at the Extraordinary Summit on the Post Malabo Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) in Kampala, Uganda.
Over the past 20 years, CAADP has emerged as the cornerstone framework for driving agricultural transformation across Africa. Launched in 2003 following the Maputo Declaration and reaffirmed in 2014 with the Malabo Declaration, CAADP has contributed to increasing agricultural GDP, higher average incomes, enhanced agricultural output, expanded agricultural trade, greater investments, and significant reductions in hunger and poverty. The Malabo Declaration which committed African governments to investing at least 10% of GDP in agriculture expired at the end of 2024 after 10 years. The ongoing summit will firm up the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan (2026–2035) and the Kampala Declaration 2025 to forge a new way forward. About 2,000 delegates including heads of state and governments have gathered for the summit.
“The Kampala Declaration opens more opportunities for partnerships and investment mobilization. So, MPs should take home innovations and ideas that we can get from the dialogue to be able to see how we drive the mobilization and appropriate financing for agriculture,” the AFSPaN chair Dr. Jasaw said.
AFSPaN is a network of MPs who are working together to amplify the objectives of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development. MPs in the network undertake the necessary monitoring of governments’ performance in implementing the CAADP and ensure the targets are met.
The under consideration 10-year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan aims to boost food production, expand value addition, boost intra-Africa trade, create jobs for youth and women, build inclusive agrifood value chains, and build resilient and sustainable agrifood systems. The new CAADP strategy and Kampala Declaration will seek to evaluate the achievements and challenges since the Maputo and Malabo Declarations, accelerate the execution of commitments to deliver measurable results, and address gaps in funding, policy, and execution.
The CAADP Action Plan also aims to achieve critical food system transformation goals by enhancing agricultural input systems, improving access to quality seeds, animal feed, and fertilizers, and promoting sustainable growth through industrialization. It will also tackle the dual challenges of malnutrition and food insecurity through increased access to land for women, youth, and marginalized groups, alongside diversifying income sources and promoting sustainable natural resource management and social protection. The plan introduces innovative financing models, such as blended finance and agricultural bonds, to attract and secure additional funding for sustainable development and tackling the climate fund.
Dr. Jasaw says the challenge of climate change demands urgent action. “This year, I lost 400 acres of maize due to drought. There was a drought spell in my country and I lost that. But I resolved that in that particular region of my farm, I would increase production to 600 acres. I am ready to fight it. But that’s just courage. How many farmers are able to do that?” he quizzed.
“What are governments doing in direct response to these farmers’ challenges and problems? If we continue on business as usual pathway, we are not going to get any changes,” he added.
Dr. Jasaw called for enhanced collaboration between food systems actors so stakeholders can learn from one another. “If we can do that and expand the stakeholder base, then we will be able to look at policy consistency, institutional consistency, and stakeholder consistency,” he said. “We need these three legs to communicate to each other for us to begin to make the transformation we so desire on the continent and the agricultural transformation needed,” he added.
Dr. Dora Siliya, a former MP and former Minister of Agriculture in Zambia said by 2030, the food economy in Africa will be worth about $1 trillion, and that is a key sector that can help create wealth, jobs and reduce poverty. Jeremy Lissouba, an MP in Congo-Brazzaville who is secretary general of AFSPaN said parliamentarians are allies of governments and the executive arm should work hand in hand with them to improve food systems.
