Africa's youth: The engine of food security and the race to Zero Hunger by 2030
Africa's journey toward food security has long been guided by continental frameworks designed to reposition agriculture as the engine of inclusive growth, economic resilience, and human development. One of the most significant of these frameworks is the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), adopted by African Union member states in 2003.
CAADP emerged from a shared understanding that agriculture remains central to Africa's development trajectory and that sustained investment, policy coherence, and political will are indispensable for ending hunger and poverty on the continent. Over the years, this commitment has been reaffirmed through landmark agreements, including the Maputo Declaration and the Malabo Declaration, which collectively call on African governments to allocate at least 10 per cent of their national budgets to agriculture, while prioritizing food security and nutrition, climate resilience, and inclusive growth.
Despite these bold commitments, progress toward Zero Hunger has remained uneven and, in many countries, distressingly slow. As the global community moved closer to the 2030 deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, it became increasingly evident that structural gaps in implementation, financing, and inclusion threatened to undermine Africa's food system transformation agenda.
Africa's agricultural policy framework: From CAADP to Kampala
The comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme
CAADP represents Africa's policy framework for agricultural transformation, wealth creation, food security, nutrition, economic growth, and prosperity for all. Launched in 2003, it provides a comprehensive approach to developing the agricultural sector across the continent, recognizing agriculture's pivotal role in reducing poverty and promoting economic development.
The Maputo and Malabo Declarations
The Maputo Declaration of 2003 committed African governments to allocate at least 10 per cent of their national budgets to agriculture and rural development. This was reinforced by the 2014 Malabo Declaration, which set specific targets for agricultural productivity enhancement, intra-African trade, nutrition, and resilience.
Progress and persistent challenges
While some nations have made significant strides, many African countries continue to fall short of these commitments. Budget allocations remain below the 10 per cent threshold, limiting investments in critical areas such as research, infrastructure, and youth programs. This underinvestment has created a persistent gap between policy ambitions and on-ground realities.
Why the Kampala Declaration marks a turning point
It was within this context that the Kampala Agreement of 2025 emerged as a pivotal moment, explicitly recognizing that without the active participation, leadership, and agency of young people, actualizing Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) would remain aspirational.
Youth as central actors, not peripheral beneficiaries
The Kampala Declaration emphasized that Africa's youth are not peripheral actors in food systems—they are the critical mass upon which transformation and sustainability depend, and must be mainstreamed in the implementation of the declaration's proposals. This recognition represented a fundamental shift from viewing youth as passive recipients of agricultural programs to positioning them as active leaders and decision-makers.
The 2025 Africa Food Systems Forum in Senegal
This recognition shaped the focus of the 2025 Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF), held in Senegal, which was convened by AGRA and partners under a theme that centered on Africa's youth as leaders of collaboration, innovation, and implementation in agri-food systems transformation. The forum brought together policymakers, youth leaders, investors, and development partners to chart a concrete path forward.
Africa's youth demographic advantage
The urgency of this focus cannot be overstated. Demographically, Africa stands as the youngest continent globally, with more than six in ten of its people under 25 years old. Each year, millions of young Africans enter the labour market in search of meaningful livelihoods, yet agriculture—Africa's largest employer—remains largely unattractive to them.
The challenge of agricultural attractiveness
This is not due to a lack of interest in food systems, but rather because agriculture is widely perceived as high-risk, capital-intensive, poorly remunerated, and structurally constrained by weak infrastructure, limited access to finance, and policy inconsistency. These perceptions are rooted in real structural challenges that must be addressed through deliberate policy interventions and investment strategies.
Shifting perceptions through action
If Africa is serious about achieving Zero Hunger by 2030, these perceptions must be confronted with deliberate action. Young people must be positioned not merely as beneficiaries of agricultural programs but as leaders of food system transformation across the entire agricultural value chain development.
Four pillars of youth leadership in dood systems
Youth as agripreneurs and value chain innovators
As agripreneurs, young people can drive productivity, value addition, processing, and market integration using innovation, technology, and climate-smart agricultural practices. They bring fresh perspectives to traditional challenges and are often more willing to adopt new technologies and business models that increase efficiency and profitability.
Youth as modern farmers
As farmers, they can redefine primary production through modern methods that increase yields while preserving ecosystems. Young farmers are more likely to embrace precision agriculture, digital tools, and sustainable farming systems that balance productivity with environmental stewardship.
Youth as technology innovators and co-creators
As innovators and co-creators, they can design solutions that respond to local realities, from digital agricultural extension services to post-harvest loss reduction and nutrition-sensitive food products. Their familiarity with digital technologies positions them uniquely to bridge traditional farming knowledge with modern innovation.
Youth as policymakers and community leaders
As policymakers, politicians, and community leaders, they can shape governance systems that are accountable, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of both rural and urban populations. Youth representation in decision-making spaces ensures that policies reflect the realities and aspirations of the generation that will inherit Africa's food systems.
Financing youth-led agricultural transformation
However, leadership without leverage is ineffective. One of the most persistent barriers to youth participation in agribusiness is the risk profile of the sector.
The case for patient capital
Agriculture requires long investment horizons, yet most financing available to young entrepreneurs is short-term, expensive, and inflexible. To change this reality, financiers must embrace the concept of patient capital, recognizing that food systems transformation cannot be rushed without compromising sustainability. Equity investors, development finance institutions, and impact-driven NGOs must begin to invest intentionally in youth-led agribusinesses as a vote of confidence in both the sector and the capabilities of young Africans.
Government budget commitments: The 10% target
At the same time, governments must reaffirm their long-standing budgetary commitments. More than two decades after the Maputo Declaration, many African countries, including Nigeria, continue to allocate far less than the agreed 10 per cent of national budgets to agriculture. In recent years, Nigeria's agricultural allocation has hovered below two per cent, signaling a persistent disconnect between policy rhetoric and fiscal priorities.
This underinvestment has far-reaching consequences, limiting funding for improved agricultural financing mechanisms, research, extension services, youth programs, and rural infrastructure. Without adequate public investment, private capital alone cannot drive the systemic change required to end hunger in Africa.
Blended finance and risk-sharing models
Reducing barriers to entry for early-stage agripreneurs through concessional finance, blended funding models, and risk-sharing mechanisms is essential if young people are to transition from subsistence to scalable agri-enterprises. These innovative financing approaches can bridge the gap between traditional banking systems and the unique needs of agricultural startups.
Education and capacity building for food system autonomy
Beyond financing, education and capacity building remain non-negotiable pillars of transformation. Africa cannot rely indefinitely on imported technologies, external research, or foreign solutions to feed its people.
Training local agricultural researchers
There is an urgent need to train and retain local researchers, agronomists, food scientists, and innovators who can develop improved crop varieties through crop improvement and research, enhance processing and value addition, and strengthen food system resilience from within.
Technical and experiential learning programs
Investing in youths' formal, technical, and experiential education is not a secondary consideration—it is central to achieving an autonomous African food system, sustainability, and long-term food security. Technical vocational training, agricultural entrepreneurship programs, and hands-on learning opportunities must be scaled across the continent.
Moving beyond tokenism: Authentic youth engagement
Crucially, youth engagement must move beyond tokenism. As emphasized by leaders within the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) youth and women constituencies, meaningful co-creation requires that institutions stop talking about young people and start talking with them.
Co-creation, not consultation
Education and mentorship
Youths must be educated, financed, mentored, and ultimately entrusted with the agency to design and implement their own solutions. Mentorship programs that connect experienced agricultural professionals with young entrepreneurs create valuable knowledge transfer while building confidence and networks.
Financing and agency
Without the synchrony of youth education, mentorship, funding, and decision-making power, the Kampala Declaration will remain an unfulfilled promise. Young people need not just advice but also the resources and authority to execute their vision.
Reducing bureaucracy and enforcing accountability
The urgency of this moment demands that bureaucracy be reduced, meritocracy be upheld, and accountability be enforced in all youth-focused interventions. Streamlined processes for accessing funding, permits, and support services will demonstrate genuine commitment to youth empowerment.
Creating an enabling environment through collaboration
Cross-sectoral government coordination
Local action must be embraced, ensuring that no young person, whether in rural communities or urban centers, is excluded from the opportunities and responsibilities of rebuilding Africa's food systems. Regional, national, state, and local governments, as well as government ministries, departments, agencies, donor agencies, and development partners, must collaborate in a coordinated manner rather than operating in silos.
Cross-sectoral collaboration between agriculture, education, science and technology, youth development, and women's affairs ministries is essential for creating an enabling environment in which youth leadership in the food system can thrive.
Intergenerational partnership models
Equally important is the need for intergenerational collaboration. The transformation of Africa's food systems will not be achieved by replacing one generation with another, but by blending the wisdom and institutional expertise of seasoned agricultural stakeholders with the energy, creativity, and technological fluency of youth.
This convergence of experience and innovation presents Africa with its strongest pathway toward a resilient, inclusive, and food-secure future. Mentorship programs, joint ventures, and collaborative platforms can facilitate this knowledge exchange while respecting the contributions of both generations.
Local action and inclusive implementation
Implementation must happen at multiple levels simultaneously—from continental policy frameworks to community-level action. Local governments and community organizations play a critical role in translating national commitments into tangible opportunities for young people in their jurisdictions.
The path forward: From declaration to action
As emphasized by Alice Ruhweza, the President of AGRA at the 2025 ministerial roundtable in Senegal, the integration of youth into the implementation of the Kampala Declaration is not a matter of choice but a strategic necessity. Africa's food systems future is already being shaped by its young people; what remains is for governments, investors, institutions, and society at large to intentionally equip them with the agencies, resources, and enabling environment required to lead.
In this way, the African food system will witness expansive transformation within the shortest time possible. The pathway is clear: authentic youth engagement, sustained investment, cross-sectoral collaboration, and accountability at every level.
To underscore this urgency, the words of Dr. Agnes Kalibata, former President of AGRA and UN Special Envoy for the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, remain profoundly instructive:
"Food systems transformation is not about the future generation; it is about empowering today's generation to act now. Without bold leadership, sustained investment, and inclusive participation, hunger will persist. But when people, especially youth, are placed at the center, transformation becomes inevitable."
Conclusion
Through sustained investment, inclusive governance, and resolute political will, youth-led transformation of the food system can accelerate Africa's progress toward achieving Zero Hunger by 2030. The Kampala Declaration represents more than a policy document—it is a commitment to fundamentally restructure how Africa approaches food security by placing its greatest asset, its youth, at the center of transformation.
The question is no longer whether youth should lead, but how quickly institutions, governments, and investors will align their resources and policies to enable that leadership. The demographic window of opportunity is open, but it will not remain so indefinitely. Africa must act now to ensure that its youthful population becomes the catalyst for agricultural transformation rather than a missed opportunity.
When education, financing, mentorship, and genuine agency converge, African youth will not only participate in food systems—they will revolutionize them. The Kampala Declaration has charted the course; implementation will determine whether Africa achieves Zero Hunger by 2030.