Experts call for urgent reforms in Africa’s agricultural strategy as food crisis escalates

Kampala, Uganda: Experts have expressed alarm over the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) 2026–2035 Strategy’s failure to address the mounting toxicity caused by the unregulated use of agrochemicals in food production.

As Africa races to realize the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) 2063 agenda, aiming to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agriculture-led growth, experts are warning that a critical threat has been largely overlooked.

The unchecked use of hazardous pesticides and herbicides, which they warn are silently poisoning Africa’s soils, threatening human health, and undermining the long-term sustainability of food systems, was elusive in the agenda.

This chorus of concern echoed powerfully during the strategic Post-Kampala CAADP Summit Debrief, held on May 22nd and 23rd, 2025, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kampala, where a diverse gathering of civil society organizations, farmer movements, policy experts, and government representatives converged to reflect on the outcomes of the January Kampala CAADP Summit and dissect the newly adopted CAADP Strategy and Action Plan (2026–2035).

At the heart of the debate was a profound realization: despite years of consultations, the action plan and the Kampala Declaration, which followed the EU Extraordinary Summit on the post-Malabo CAADP Agenda in January 2025, failed to explicitly confront the growing environmental and health crises stemming from the unregulated use of agrochemicals. 

Chronic toxicity from these substances, experts argued, is not merely a theoretical concern but a pressing reality, one that is depleting soils, contaminating water sources, and eroding agricultural yields through increasing pest resistance. In doing so, it threatens to derail Africa’s ambition to achieve sustainable agricultural-led growth.

“The action plan does not explicitly define what constitutes healthy and nutritious food, nor does it point out what is intoxicating our soils and endangering ecosystems,” Warned Frances Davies, the Regional Advocacy Coordinator for the Seed and Knowledge Initiative, highlighting the glaring omission. 

Experts voiced frustration that the plan’s references to sustainability were vague and disconnected from tangible measures, leaving crucial aspects such as soil health, animal welfare, and the adoption of agroecology conspicuously absent from the agenda.

The consequences, they warned, are profound. The unchecked proliferation of synthetic fertilizers and highly hazardous pesticides is not only accelerating environmental degradation but also jeopardizing Africa’s food sovereignty and resilience in the face of mounting challenges.

As Bridget Mugambe, Programs Coordinator at the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) emphasized, “We need to sensitize people about agroecology so they appreciate its value, and we must integrate it meaningfully. Of course, there are many initiatives to be undertaken by policymakers, including capacity-building.”

Agroecology, a science, practice, and movement that promotes sustainable crop production through co-creation with farmers and scientists, stands as a powerful counter-narrative to the dominant model of input-intensive agriculture.

 Yet, as Anne Maina, the National Coordinator Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya, explained, “While there are provisions that speak to principles of fairness, animal health, and soil health, we do not see them articulated outright in the action plan. Agroecology offers a proven pathway to reducing reliance on synthetic inputs, restoring degraded ecosystems, and safeguarding Africa’s food systems.”

Advocacy for Policy Change and Capacity Building

However, advancing this paradigm shift requires more than words. According to Agnes Obua Ogwal, the African Union’s advisor on CAADP, there is an urgent need for strategic advocacy and evidence-based communication. “You need to work with them to advocate, to communicate the benefits of agroecology—how it addresses nutritional deficiencies and food insecurity, with scientifically proven evidence,” she asserted.

 “When strategies and national development plans are being reviewed, we must be at the table and contribute. But we can’t contribute if we haven’t reflected deeply and articulated clearly that this is the best way forward.”

Throughout the high-level engagement in Kampala, participants debated how different actors, ranging from grassroots farmers to policymakers, scientists, and consumer groups, could collaboratively influence the CAADP implementation process to embed agroecology and food sovereignty at both national and regional levels. 

Discussions resolved to raise awareness among policymakers and critical stakeholders, including media and faith-based organizations, generating and packaging evidence on agroecology’s efficacy, and making agroecological alternatives attractive to consumers.

They underscored the necessity of collaborating with universities to integrate agroecology into research and curricula, ensuring that future generations of agricultural leaders are equipped with the knowledge and skills to implement sustainable practices. The urgency of securing dedicated national budgets for agroecology was also stressed, as was the importance of engaging from grassroots to regional levels to shape National and Regional Agriculture 

Experts also highlighted the critical need to participate in the biennial review processes under CAADP, not merely as observers but as active contributors, ensuring that the data collected reflects the realities on the ground and that policy recommendations are informed by validated, evidence-based insights.

As Africa marches toward its ambitious 2063 agenda, the message from Kampala was clear and urgent: agricultural transformation cannot be built on poisoned soils and compromised ecosystems. Without bold, explicit commitments to sustainable practices such as agroecology, the promise of a hunger-free, poverty-free Africa will remain an elusive dream.