BY SIFISO NHLABATSI
MBABANE– African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (ARBE), Moses Vilakati, has called for urgent and coordinated action to unlock Africa’s agricultural potential, saying the continent must move from commitments and ideas to actual investment and production.
Vilakati said Africa had the capacity to feed itself, create employment for its growing youth population and emerge as a global force in agriculture and food systems, but warned that this would require stronger African leadership, investment, innovation and collective action.
“The time for Africa’s food systems transformation is now,” Vilakati said.
He said the continent needed to move “from potential to production, from ideas to investment, and from commitments to action”, stressing that the scale of transformation required over the coming decade was unprecedented.
Vilakati made the remarks as he reflected on his engagements at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, where he held discussions with leaders and development partners on ways of accelerating agricultural transformation across the continent.
He said the discussions in Kigali had reaffirmed that Africa already possessed much of what was required to transform its food systems, including knowledge, technology, resources and strategic partners.
“What is required is stronger coordination, African leadership and collective action to unlock our continent’s immense agricultural potential,” he said.
Among his engagements was a meeting with Hari Menon, President of Global Growth and Opportunity at the Gates Foundation, where they discussed strategic opportunities to accelerate food security and agricultural transformation.
The discussions focused on strengthening agricultural innovation and technology, advancing soil mapping and soil health, reducing Africa’s dependence on food imports and increasing productivity in key commodities such as wheat, rice, maize and edible oils.
Vilakati also stressed the importance of young people in driving Africa’s agricultural transformation.
He said creating meaningful and sustainable employment opportunities for Africa’s youth should remain central to the continent’s development agenda, particularly through connecting young people with investment, technology, entrepreneurship and emerging opportunities in agriculture and food systems.
The Commissioner further highlighted the need to strengthen agricultural corridors, build climate-resilient food systems and expand partnerships capable of translating innovation and investment into measurable results across African countries.
Vilakati said the African Union’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (AU-DARBE) was increasingly becoming the implementation engine for the continent’s agrifood transformation agenda.
However, he cautioned that much more needed to be done to accelerate delivery of continental initiatives, strengthen support to Member States, mobilise investment, improve accountability and coordinate development
partners.
“We therefore invite our partners to invest directly in AUC-led implementation platforms that can generate impact across all African countries,” Vilakati said.
He said such investments would help accelerate implementation of the Kampala CAADP Declaration, Agenda 2063, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as well as the Soil Health and Fertilizer Action Plan.
Meanwhile, Vilakati also highlighted Eswatini’s hosting of the inaugural Extraordinary Seed Summit, describing it as an important continental gathering aimed at strengthening Africa’s seed systems.
He said stronger and more resilient seed systems would be critical to Africa’s ability to improve agricultural productivity and achieve food security.
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(Courtesy Pic)
