The former African Union Secretary General and Chairperson of the African Prosperity Network (APN) Advisory Council, Dr, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has called on African leaders to prioritize local food production over relying on food importation.
Speaking at the African Prosperity Dialogues 2026 in Accra on Friday, February 6, 2026, Dr. Zuma urged policy makers and leaders of the African continent to focus on creating resilient local food systems that ensure food security and availability for Africans.
According to her, Africa is capable of feeding its people but rather chosen to rely on food importation which is costing respective African countries huge sums of money.
“As at this time Africa is still importing food. Why should we spend huge sums of money to import food while we can produce food locally?” “Let’s learn to feed ourselves and stop spending a lot of money on importing food.”
She stated that, Africa cannot continue to rely on other economies to feed its people while the continent is capable of producing its own food locally to avoid foreign control.
“we must be ourselves and feed ourselves, and until we do so, somebody would control us forever because who feeds you controls you.”
She emphasised that Africans must prioritize value addition over raw exportation of local products as it doesn’t portray and attracts their real value in the market.
“Again we must prioritize value addition over exporting goods in their raw state. We are not benefiting from our natural resources because we export them in their raw state without any value added to them to get what we are due of.”
“we export jobs and cry for the lack of jobs, we export revenue and cry of limited revenue” she lamented emphasizing that Africa has all that it takes to develop and transform its people.
She added that the lack of value addition limits the competitiveness of local products and natural resources resulting in losing at the negotiation table.
“we are not given what is due of our products in the international market because we export them with no value added. And when you are exporter of raw materials, you are not a price caller but rather a price taker.”
She called on all African nationals to do their part and work together to change the situation and rewrite the African story without over relying on governments.
Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma’s core message on Africa’s dependence on food importation emphasizes self-reliance, agricultural investment, and sustainable food systems.
Her position and message remain clear through her “Agenda 2063” that, importing food cannot guarantee food security for Africa; instead, the continent must strengthen its own capacity to feed itself.
Heavy dependence on imports exposes African nations to global price fluctuations, supply chain disruptions, and external political pressures. Building local food systems shields Africa from these vulnerabilities.
In essence, Dr. Zuma’s message is a call to action for African leaders to prioritize local agriculture, empower communities, and reduce reliance on imports, and framing food security as both an economic and sovereignty issue.