The African Union Extraordinary Summit on the Post-Malabo Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) held in Kampala, Uganda, adopted a new 10-year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan on 13th January 2025. This new strategy aims to build resilient, inclusive, and sustainable agrifood systems across the continent, addressing urgent challenges like hunger, climate change, and economic disparities. By prioritizing institutionalized funding, technological innovation, climate resilience, and robust accountability, the CAADP strategy sets a transformative course for future African agriculture, thereby unlocking the potential to achieve food security and lasting economic growth.
The development follows the Maputo Declaration launched in 2003 which came up with a bold vision for Africa’s agricultural transformation. It aimed to allocate at least 10 percent of public expenditure to agriculture and achieve a 6 percent annual growth rate in agricultural GDP. The 2014 Malabo Declaration reinforced these targets with an ambitious 2025 horizon, adding commitments such as eradicating hunger, halving poverty, tripling intra-African trade, and building resilience. However, as we stand in 2025, the targets are far from achieved. As revealed in the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report (SOFI, 2024), 20.4 percent of the African population continues to experience hunger and 58 percent facing food insecurity; the lessons from these unmet goals must guide the next CAADP strategy, 2026–2035.
This article examines key factors that hindered the realization of the Malabo commitments and suggests policy adjustments that could help avoid similar pitfalls in the future.
Insufficient Budgetary Allocation
As highlighted in the fourth CAADP Biennial Review (BR) report, one of the most significant hurdles in meeting CAADP’s commitments is the failure of many African nations to allocate 10% of public expenditure to agriculture. This shortfall has hindered key sectors such as agricultural research, infrastructure, and extension services, which are critical for boosting productivity.
For example, in 2024, a major shift in the Kenyan government priorities was triggered by the withdrawal of the finance bill for the 2024/2025 fiscal year, leading to austerity measures across the economy. These cuts have impacted various development projects. Nonetheless, one critical area that has seen continued government support is the fertilizer subsidy program. This initiative has allowed farmers across Kenya to access vital agricultural inputs at reduced costs, addressing one of the barriers to productivity growth in the sector. However, such support is not without challenges, as reliance on government subsidies risks creating instability in long-term sustainability.
At the same time, international factors complicate the situation. The Trump administration recent 90-day pause on foreign aid development has left critical projects, such as the Ksh. 7.76 billion US-Kenya climate and clean energy industrial partnership, in limbo. This freeze also threatens investments in Kenya’s universities and research institutions, which have been recipients of significant foreign funding for agricultural development. The uncertainty surrounding these partnerships underscores the need for a more secure and consistent funding environment to support agricultural projects.
Going forward, legal frameworks must be reinforced to institutionalize the 10% public expenditure commitment, ensuring that agriculture is prioritized even in times of economic austerity. Moreover, independent treasury oversight mechanisms must be empowered to safeguard these funds, preventing them from being diverted due to political pressure.
Poor Policy Implementation
The slow alignment of national policies with the CAADP framework has hampered progress. Many countries lack the specific, targeted interventions needed to meet these commitments. For instance, policies promoting land ownership by women, their access to credit, and capacity building are crucial for achieving gender equality and improving agricultural productivity. In Kenya, although there are constitutional provisions and the 2016 Community Land Act, women still face barriers to land ownership due to customary practices that favor male inheritance. According to a 2021 briefing paper by the Kenya Land Alliance, despite women contributing 80 percent of the workforce in communities that depend largely on agriculture, they hold only 1 percent of all land titles in their names and 5-6 percent jointly.
Limited land ownership restricts their ability to access credit, as financial institutions often require land titles as collateral. Additionally, many women lack the technical knowledge and financial literacy needed to maximize agricultural output. Strengthening legal enforcement, expanding access to affordable credit through women-friendly financial products, and investing in capacity-building programs will empower Kenyan women to contribute more effectively to food security and rural development.
A regional accountability framework should be established to monitor national policy alignment with CAADP objectives. Advocacy groups and civil society should be empowered to advocate for the inclusion of marginalized groups, such as women and youth, in policy formulation and implementation.
Climate Change and disasters
The Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Program (DRFIP) estimates that over the past 20 years, more than 1,100 disasters in Africa have killed 46,000 people and affected as many as 337 million lives. Some of these natural disasters, including floods, droughts, and fires are attributed to climate change. Governments lacking pre-arranged disaster response financing are often forced to divert funds from existing budgets, a reactive approach that not only strains public resources but also undermines long-term development initiatives. This ad-hoc financial reallocation disrupts critical sectors such as agricultural resilience programs ultimately weakening a nation’s ability to build sustainable economic and social systems.
Establishing dedicated disaster risk financing mechanisms is essential to safeguarding development gains while ensuring rapid and effective crisis response. Governments should continue investing in climate-smart agriculture (CSA) to enhance resilience. Adaptation measures such as drought-resistant crops, water-efficient irrigation systems, and early warning systems for extreme weather must be prioritized.
Slow Adoption of Technology and Innovation
The slow uptake of agricultural technology by most African farming systems has meant missed opportunities to improve productivity and efficiency. According to the World Bank, sub-Saharan Africa faces critical challenges for development in the digital space. This is occasioned by limited and costly internet connectivity, a persistent digital gender divide, a workforce ill-equipped for digitally driven industries, and weak regulatory frameworks.
To drive meaningful agricultural transformation, African governments must create an enabling environment that attracts private-sector investment in technology and innovation. This requires a mix of targeted incentives, including tax breaks, public-private partnerships, and streamlined regulatory processes that encourage agritech startups and large-scale agribusiness investments. Additionally, mechanization subsidies should be strategically designed to lower the cost of modern farming equipment, ensuring accessibility for smallholder farmers who remain the backbone of Africa’s agricultural sector. Beyond financial support, robust capacity-building programs are essential—farmers must be equipped with the technical skills to integrate precision agriculture, digital platforms, and climate-smart innovations into their operations. Furthermore, national research institutions should forge strong collaborations with global organizations to co-develop locally tailored solutions, ensuring that technological advancements align with the continent’s unique agroecological conditions and market realities.
Weak Monitoring and Accountability Systems
The fourth CAADP Biennial Review (BR) report exposed a critical weakness in Africa’s agricultural transformation efforts namely, inadequate data collection and weak reporting mechanisms. This systemic failure has not only obscured the true impact of interventions but has also fostered complacency among governments, allowing missed targets to go unchallenged. The persistent delays in reporting across government institutions further complicate timely course corrections, leaving projects to drift off track without the necessary interventions.
To address this, a robust, technology-driven data management system must be established to monitor agricultural performance in real-time. Independent audits and biennial reviews should be institutionalized as mandatory accountability measures, with findings made publicly available to drive transparency and informed policymaking. Crucially, government audit bodies must operate with full autonomy, shielded from political influence, to ensure accurate, impartial reporting that holds leaders accountable for their commitments.
External Shocks
The COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical conflicts and economic instability have severely disrupted agricultural supply chains across Africa. This has also exposed the continent’s heavy dependence on global markets for essential inputs such as fertilizers, seeds, and machinery. The war in Ukraine, for instance, led to a surge in fertilizer prices, making it unaffordable for many smallholder farmers, while supply chain disruptions caused delays in seed distribution, ultimately affecting yields. Meanwhile, currency fluctuations and rising inflation have further eroded the purchasing power, limiting access to critical inputs and reducing investment in agricultural productivity.
To build resilience against such external shocks, African governments must prioritize the establishment of contingency funds dedicated to stabilizing agricultural supply chains during crises. Regional safety nets, including cooperative stockpiling of essential inputs and the development of localized input production industries, should be expanded to reduce dependence on volatile global markets. Investing in domestic fertilizer production (including organic fertilizers), for example, could mitigate supply shortages and protect farmers from unpredictable price spikes. Furthermore, governments must strengthen intra-African trade partnerships to create a buffer against external disruptions, ensuring that African agriculture remains self-sustaining even in times of global crisis.
Overreliance on Smallholder Farming
According to FAO, smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) number around 33 million, representing 80 percent of all farms in the region, and contributing up to 90 percent of food production in some SSA countries. In Kenya, for instance, the fragmented nature of smallholder farming makes it logistically and financially challenging to provide consistent support services to every farmer. While the introduction of devolution was expected to address this by bringing agricultural services closer to the grassroots level, progress has been slow. Many county governments lack the necessary resources, institutional capacity, and political will to fully implement agricultural programs, leaving farmers underserved.
To overcome these challenges, African governments must actively promote the aggregation of smallholder farmers through cooperatives and producer organizations. Well-structured cooperatives can improve farmers’ bargaining power, enhance access to financial services, and facilitate bulk purchasing of inputs, ultimately driving down production costs. Additionally, formalizing land tenure through clear policies and legal frameworks is essential to encourage long-term investments in sustainable land management. Secure land ownership, e.g., through long-term leasing, would incentivize farmers to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices, invest in soil fertility, and enhance productivity.
Looking Ahead: Lessons for CAADP 2026–2035
The newly adopted CAADP strategy, with its focus on building resilient, inclusive, and sustainable agrifood systems, must draw upon the lessons from the missed target by the Malabo Declaration to ensure meaningful progress. Prioritizing institutionalized funding commitments, leveraging innovative technologies, integrating climate resilience into all agricultural initiatives, and establishing robust monitoring systems for accountability are critical steps forward.
One key takeaway from the Malabo Declaration shortfall to eradicate hunger by 2025 is that bold targets demand not only visionary policies but also resolute political will, reliable financing, and strong accountability structures. With these measures in place, Africa has the opportunity to achieve lasting transformation, eradicate hunger, and build resilient agricultural systems that can thrive in the face of climate change.