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Uganda will host the African Union Extraordinary Summit on the Post-Malabo CAADP Agenda from January 9-11, 2025. The summit will unveil the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan (2026-2035) under the theme: Sustainable and Resilient Agrifood Systems for a Healthy and Prosperous Africa.

Uganda stands a chance to attract investments in the agriculture sector at the forthcoming African Union Extraordinary Summit on the post-Malabo CAADP Agenda.

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Strategy and Action Plan 2026-35 and the Assembly taking place January 9-11, 2025, is organised by the Government of Uganda and the African Union.

During the media launch in December at the Kampala Serena Hotel, Agriculture Minister, Frank Tumwebaze, said the summit is an opportunity for Ugandans to engage with different stakeholders and get investments in different agriculture value chains they are engaged in.

“To the farming community and actors along the various agricultural value chains, such engagements present opportunities for opening up regional and continental markets because we shall be working with one common document for Africa,” he said.

In terms of tourism, Tumwebaze said the summit will promote Uganda as a tourism destination, especially in areas of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions, one of the strategies being promoted by the tourism ministry.

“This summit is an opportunity to further boost our credentials to host conferences and a tourism and investment destination while remaining as a key reference point for the continent for the next decade through the ‘Kampala CAADP Declaration’,” Tumwebaze said.

The event expected to attract close to 2,000 people is under the theme: Sustainable and Resilient Agrifood Systems for a Healthy and Prosperous Africa.

According to Tumwebaze, the summit will start with a meeting of agriculture ministers from the AU member countries, followed by a meeting between the agriculture ministers and minister of foreign affairs on January 10 and then January 11 will be the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and government officials, among others.

Why the summit?

According to Amb. Josefa Sacko, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, the 37th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly, that sat in February last year noted that no country was on track to meet the Malabo CAADP goals and targets by 2025.

The assembly then directed the African Union Commission and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), to develop a post-Malabo CAADP agenda that would respond to challenges and opportunities facing Africa’s agrifood systems.

“In response, the Africa Union embarked on the development of a new strategy and action plan, which aims at boosting food production, expanding value addition, boosting intra-Africa trade, and creating jobs for youth and women, among others,” she said.

The new programme with the recommendations of the AU assembly is what has been compiled into the 10-year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan: 2026-2035, which will be endorsed by heads of state during the summit and it will become the CAADP Kampala Declaration, she explained.

She added that CAADP is one of the major strategies of AU towards the realisation of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 whose aspiration is to have a prosperous Africa.

Performance of countries as per the Malabo Declaration

She explained that although Africa has witnessed significant economic and agricultural growth over the past two decades, challenges persist, particularly in meeting the ambitious goals and targets in the Malabo Declaration of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). The target was for AU member states to set aside at least 10% of their budgets towards agriculture.

Sacko explained further that while 12 AU member countries have improved their performance over four CAADP Biennial Review (BR) cycles, reports showed none is on track to meet the Malabo Declaration targets by 2025.

“The limited progress toward meeting the Malabo Declaration’s goals and targets revealed by the fourth CAADP BR report is consistent with the findings of the 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report. With 20.4 per cent of Africa’s population experiencing hunger and 58% facing food insecurity, making it clear that the continent is struggling to meet basic food and nutrition security needs,” she said.

Adding the rising costs have made healthy diets unaffordable for about 924.8 million people, worsening food insecurity and malnutrition on the continent.

She explained further that despite some progress in reducing stunting rates, malnutrition which leads to higher rates of morbidity and mortality and reduces human capital development remains a severe issue. Obesity and related health issues are becoming more prevalent, adding to the continent’s economic and health burden.

“These statistics make clear that without intensified efforts, Africa will not meet its objective of ending hunger and malnutrition by 2025 or 2030,” she added.

Call for support

To ensure the success of the summit, foreign affairs state minister, Jeje Odong, called on Uganda’s ambassadors and diplomats in different African countries to engage those governments to participate in the summit.

Side events during the summit

On the sidelines of the summit, AUC will “Women and Youths in Agrifood Systems” and “Refugees/Forced Migration and Agrifood Systems in Africa” events and their discussions will be centered around “Building Resilience of Agrifood Systems through Commercialization.”