August 30, 2026/ African View
As the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) marks its 20th anniversary, the organisation is turning the spotlight on an uncomfortable question: after two decades of investment and agricultural interventions, why are so many Africans still struggling to access affordable and nutritious food?
AGRA is set to release its Impact, Learning and Foresight Report on August 31 in Nairobi, presenting an assessment of what has worked, where progress has fallen short and what Africa's food systems will require over the next 20 years.
Rather than presenting its anniversary as a celebration of achievements alone, the report identifies three persistent challenges that are holding back Africa's agricultural transformation: productivity, value and capability.
The figures paint a worrying picture. Africa's food import bill is estimated at $65 billion in 2025, while agricultural value added per worker in sub-Saharan Africa remains far below the global average. The report also highlights limited irrigation, inability to afford a healthy diet and an estimated $180 billion annual financing gap for agrifood transformation.
Be this as it may, countries such as Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire and Ethiopia are demonstrating that progress is possible when productivity, markets, investment and local capacity come together. The challenge is turning individual successes into continent-wide transformation.
The report comes as African countries face mounting pressure from climate change, demographic growth, debt and shrinking development finance.
AGRA states that though the stakes are enormous, successful transformation of Africa's food systems could add more than $1 trillion to the continent's GDP by 2045.
The report will be unveiled by AGRA President Alice Ruhweza and senior officials at a press conference in Nairobi on August 31, ahead of the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali from September 1- 4.
After 20 years, the question is no longer simply whether Africa can produce more food.
It is whether Africa can build food systems that make farmers more prosperous, food more affordable, and the continent less dependent on imports.
Comments