By Tendai Chisiri
Harare – Africa does not suffer from a shortage of strategies, declarations or roadmaps, but from an implementation deficit, the African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, H.E. Moses Vilakati, has said.
Speaking at the opening of the 22nd Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform in Harare Tuesday, Commissioner Vilakati said the continent must shift from planning to delivery.
“We meet today at a defining moment for Africa. A moment that calls for honesty, for urgency and above all, for action,” he said.
The three-day platform is being held under the theme: “Strengthening Political Leadership, Implementation Readiness, Financing, Partnerships, Mutual Accountability and Delivery at All Levels.”
Commissioner Vilakati paid tribute to the Government and people of Zimbabwe for hosting the meeting and thanked the SADC Secretariat, AUDA-NEPAD, development partners, farmer organizations and the private sector.
He said the meeting came only weeks after the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali, where the same message was delivered: Africa knows what needs to be done, the challenge is doing it.
While acknowledging progress since CAADP was adopted in Maputo in 2003 – including national investment plans, the Biennial Review process and expansion of agricultural output – Vilakati warned that no country is fully on track.
He cited the Fifth Biennial Review which shows that nearly one in five Africans still experiences hunger, 58 percent face moderate or severe food insecurity and more than 300 million Africans remain food insecure.
“These figures are not merely statistics. They represent children whose growth is compromised, families struggling to secure their next meal, farmers constrained by limited access to finance, technology, irrigation and markets,” he said.
The Commissioner described Africa’s annual US$100 billion food import bill as alarming and unacceptable, given that the continent holds about 60 percent of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land.
“That figure should alarm us. It should challenge us and inspire us to act. Because those 100 billion dollars are not merely a food import bill. It is a jobs bill, an industrialization bill, a trade bill and ultimately, a sovereignty bill,” he said.
Every dollar spent on importing food that could be produced in Africa, he said, was a missed opportunity for an African farmer, processor, youth entrepreneur and woman-led enterprise.
Commissioner Vilakati said the newly adopted Kampala CAADP Declaration and the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan 2026-2035 was Africa’s blueprint for food sovereignty, economic transformation and industrialization.
By 2035, the strategy seeks to increase agrifood output by 45 percent, reduce post-harvest losses by 50 percent, triple intra-African trade in agrifood products, increase local value addition and mobilize US$100 billion in investment.
“These are not just agricultural targets. They are economic transformation targets,” he said.
He said his 100-Day Rolling Action Plan since assuming office had prioritized implementation of the Kampala agenda, and that Harare must mark a shift from discussing what should be done to how, who and how it will be financed and measured.
Success, he said, would require stronger political leadership, greater involvement of Ministries of Finance and Planning, increased domestic resource mobilisation, private sector participation and climate-resilient investments.
In his closing remarks, the Commissioner challenged delegates to reflect on resources spent on conferences versus direct investment in farmers.
“What would happen if even a fraction of the resources spent discussing Africa’s agricultural transformation were invested directly in farmers, irrigation infrastructure, rural roads, digital agriculture and youth enterprises?” he asked.
“Harare must not be remembered as another meeting. Harare must be remembered as the moment implementation became our priority. Harare must be remembered as the moment delivery became our currency.”
The 22nd CAADP Partnership Platform was officially opened by Zimbabwe’s Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Hon Dr Anxious Jongwe Masuka, and is being attended by SADC Executive Secretary H.E. Elias Mpedi Magosi, AUDA-NEPAD CEO H.E. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, ministers, development partners and farmer organisations.
The Commissioner concluded: “Africa does not need another decade of discussions. Africa needs a decade of implementation. The time for delivery is now.”
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