Ensuring Sustainable Food Systems in Africa

"It is imperative that Africa’s policies, regulations and infrastructure support the global solutions proposed to improve food security on the continent, the authors of this article argue."

The year 2021 was one of critical conversations about global agrifood systems, which are the processes and methods through which farming produces and markets food. Following on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic and a rise in global poverty, 2021 saw urgent calls to transform food systems if the world is to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal targets by 2030. The UN Food Systems Summit in September 2021 was a call to action and a challenge to nations to build ‘transformed’ food systems. It was followed by the development of the African Common Position, which outlines how countries on the continent plan to heed that challenge.

Then came the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), where nations adopted the Glasgow Climate Pact. Sustainable, resilient agrifood solutions are, after all, crucial to mitigating the effects of climate change.

If commitments are met, these high-level dialogues have the potential to shape the trajectory of Africa’s agrifood system over the next decade. But how can global conversations be internalised into systems?

How does the continent build sustainable, resilient food markets? And what roles do private sector role players and public policymakers play?

TRANSFORMATION WILL TAKE TIME