The three-day Summit was hosted by His Excellency Mr Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal and the Chairperson of the African Union, and co-hosted by the African Development Bank Group.
Date: 25 to 27 January 2023.
Venue: Dakar, Senegal.
The Summit brought together Governments, Private Sector, Multilateral Organisations, NGOs and scientists to discuss the escalating challenge of food security in Africa.
Despite having 65% of the remaining arable land to feed 9 billion people in the world by 2050, the continent imports over 100 million metric tons of food at the cost of $75 billion annually. Africa has the potential to feed itself and contribute to feeding the world. It’s vast savanna areas alone are estimated at 400 million hectares, of which only 10% (40 million hectares) is cultivated.
Investing in raising agricultural productivity, supporting infrastructure, climate smart agricultural systems, with private sector investments all along the food value chain can help turn Africa into a breadbasket for the world. Achieving zero hunger in Africa will require between $28.5 billion and $36.6 billion annually. With the removal of barriers to agricultural development aided by new investments, it is estimated that Africa’s agricultural output could increase from $280 billion per year to $1 trillion by 2030.
To further diversify food supply sources for the world, amid the lingering effects of the war in Ukraine and its systemic effects globally, and to secure food supplies for Africa, it is now critical to support efforts to unleash the agricultural potential of Africa, for sustainable food production. Africa stands to gain, and the world stands to gain from such a concerted effort.
Unleashing Africa’s Food and Agriculture Potential: Dakar 2 Summit.
Dakar Declaration
WE, the Heads of State and Government of 34 African countries, Heads of International and Bilateral Development Organizations and Leaders of the private sector in a Summit hosted by His Excellency Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal and Chairperson of the African Union, and Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, under the theme: Dakar 2 Summit on Feed Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience in Dakar, Senegal from 25 to 27 January 2023;
THANK H.E. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal and Chairperson of the African Union for his leadership as well as the Government and people of Senegal for the warm hospitality accorded the delegations and for convening this important and timely Summit;
APPRECIATE the presence of H.E. Michael D. Higgins, President of the Republic of Ireland;
APPLAUD the President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, for his leadership, commitment and drive that led to such a highly successful Summit and COMMEND the African Development Bank Group for working closely with national governments and partners in developing the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts;
CONCERNED that rising food prices and disruption in global food supply due to Covid-19, climate change and conflicts such as the Russia- Ukraine war, will worsen food insecurity in Africa
NOTING that Africa has 65 percent of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land and has the potential to produce enough food to feed itself and contribute to feeding the rest of the world.
RECOGNIZING that despite its huge agricultural potential, Africa suffers from high food insecurity, with one third of the 828 million hungry people in the world being on the continent;
MINDFUL that achieving and sustaining food sovereignty requires delivering agricultural technology to farmers at scale, raising food production and increasing investments in food and agricultural systems;
AGREEING that achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Number 2 on Zero Hunger cannot be achieved unless it is achieved in Africa;
UNDERSTANDING that support to Africa’s agriculture sector depends on strong political will and commitment of African governments, development partners, and the private sector and the scaling up of highly impactful continental programmes such as the African Development Bank’s
Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) and other successful country and partner programmes;
FURTHER APPLAUD the planned investment of $10 billion by the African Development Bank and a further $20 billion by several other partners in support of Africa’s agricultural transformation as catalyzed by the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts;
WELCOME the continued support to the agriculture sector in Africa from international and national agricultural research and development centers and others who have partnered with African countries to develop and deploy robust production packages to boost farm-level productivity and
increase resilience;
ACKNOWLEDGE that the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts developed at this Summit, were prepared and are owned by African countries, which convey the vision, challenges, and opportunities in agricultural productivity, infrastructure, processing and value addition,
markets and financing that will accelerate the implementation of the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP);
AGREE that it is time for Africa to feed itself and fully unlock its agriculture potential to help feed the world;
HEREBY RESOLVE to undertake the following:
i) Finalize the development of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts endorsed at the Dakar 2 Summit in collaboration with country stakeholders, development partners and the private sector to achieve food security and self sufficiency;
ii) Establish Presidential Delivery Councils to oversee the implementation of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts;
iii) Support the implementation of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts with time-bound and clearly measurable indicators for success, including concrete national policies, incentives, and regulations to establish an enabling environment for wider and accelerated investments across the agriculture sector;
iv) Mobilize internal and external financing for the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts from a broad range of bilateral and multilateral partners and the private sector;
v) Increase financing from national budgets to support the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts in line with the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods by allocating at least 10% of public expenditure to agriculture; and
vi) Request that the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank follow up with various development partners to finalize their planned financial support to complement the $30 billion of financing announced at this Summit and to report on the overall investment of development partners; and ensure that the Dakar 2 Summit’s Declaration is submitted to the February 2023 African Union Summit for consideration.
See AFSA’s (Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa) Statement here.
