Learning together, moving forward together: francophone collaboration on food systems
Across Africa, countries are accelerating efforts to transform their food systems amid persistent hunger, malnutrition, climate shocks, and economic fragility. While national contexts vary, a common thread is emerging: governments are increasingly embracing multisectoral coordination, backed by inclusive governance models, to advance their national pathways and meet continental commitments under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) framework and its Kampala Declaration.
At a recent South-South Dialogue hosted by the Zero Hunger Coalition, representatives from Cameroon, the Republic of Guinea, Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the Central African Republic reflected on their journeys since the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) in 2021. Their reflections offer valuable insights into what is driving progress and where further action is needed, as the continent prepares for the UNFSS+4 Stocktaking Moment and the implementation of the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan.
Cameroon: strategic alignment and systems rethinking
In Cameroon, the transformation of food systems became a coordinated national effort embedded within the country’s development vision. By aligning its food systems pathway Document with the National Development Strategy 2020–2030, Cameroon is working to overcome the chronic fragmentation that has long hindered effective implementation across ministries and sectors. With seven different ministries historically operating in parallel, coherence was elusive. Now, designated focal points within each ministry are ensuring that food systems priorities are understood, adapted, and owned across government.
Anne Nadège Magne, Cameroon’s Food Systems Focal Point, explains, “the fragmentation of vertical governance structures means that key sectors such as agriculture are sometimes excluded from climate resilience programmes. We are now working to break down these silos—for example, through the Convergence Initiative, which calls on countries to integrate food systems transformation with climate action as a pathway to accelerated sustainable development. This approach is helping us align Cameroon’s food systems agenda with its climate commitments under the African Union Climate Declaration.”
In line with this vision, Cameroon has developed a targeted action plan focused on three priority areas: strengthening rice value chains by supporting smallholder farmers and promoting climate-smart innovations; fostering agroecological practices to enhance sustainability; and encouraging import substitution to increase food sovereignty and stimulate demand for locally produced food.
Yet, ambition alone is not enough. As Ms Magne stresses, there remains a pressing need to strengthen capacity at every level—from institutions to field-level actors. “Building the technical and human capacity for transformation is essential,” she notes. “Only then can we effectively tackle the intersecting challenges of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and fragile rural livelihoods.
Republic of Guinea: steering transformation from the Centre, delivering change on the ground
Guinea’s pathway reflects similar ambition, albeit shaped by its own institutional evolution. In 2023, the government established a single Multisectoral Committee on Food and Nutrition Systems under the authority of the Prime Minister, consolidating what had previously been three overlapping and often fragmented committees. This move signalled a clear intent to streamline governance and anchor food and nutrition at the centre of national decision-making. Grounded in the principles of the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) framework and aligned with the country’s broader development strategy, the Committee is now leading the development of a comprehensive roadmap to tackle hunger, child malnutrition, anaemia, school feeding, and public budgeting for nutrition.
One of the most tangible expressions of this integrated approach is the “Zero Hunger Villages” initiative, launched in partnership with the World Food Programme. Designed to bridge policy ambition and community-level impact, the programme has already reached over 200 rural communities. “We understood that to deliver real results, the food and nutrition agenda had to be both cross-sectoral and close to the people. That’s what this programme has achieved,” explained Alphonse Vohou Sakouvogui, Guinea’s Food Systems Focal Point. Combining land management support, access to improved seeds, post-harvest techniques, and hands-on nutrition training for women, the initiative strengthens local resilience and translates national goals into visible, measurable change.
Madagascar: coordinating for impact with data, dialogue and delivery
In Madagascar, food systems transformation is gaining momentum through a combination of digital innovation, inclusive governance, and strong national ownership. With more than half the population facing food insecurity and climate risks intensifying, the government revitalised its National Taskforce for Food Systems Transformation to lead a coordinated response. This taskforce brings together ministries, civil society, UN agencies, researchers, and development partners in a shared governance model that aims to deliver concrete outcomes.
“What’s new is not just the roadmap, but how we’re operationalising it through real-time monitoring and shared commitments,” says Ianja Raolisoa, Madagascar’s Food Systems Focal Point. With technical support from the GIZ AgSys project, Madagascar launched a digital platform to track the implementation of its roadmap, ensuring that data is accessible and transparent across all involved sectors.
A key innovation has been the stakeholder matchmaking initiative led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. This initiative facilitates the alignment of actors and resources with the roadmap’s three strategic pillars. During a two-day national workshop held in December 2024, participants across sectors formalised their commitments by defining activities, indicators, and responsibilities to be reflected in the action plan. This inclusive process strengthened implementation readiness while reinforcing transparency and mutual accountability.
DRC: ambitious commitment, complex realities
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), strong political leadership has propelled food systems transformation to the forefront of the national agenda. The government is currently revising its food systems pathway to better reflect the country’s acute vulnerability to recurrent crises, while also integrating priorities emerging from the Kampala Summit.
Alain Boyoa, National Coordinator of the Food Security and Nutrition Programme, and CAADP focal point, underscores the pivotal role of political ownership: “One of the major advancements on our journey has been the ownership of this agenda by our high-level authorities, who have demonstrated their willingness to mobilise both political capital and financial resources.”
This commitment marks an important shift, but the challenge now lies in transforming leadership into coordinated, multisectoral implementation—especially in a context where humanitarian and development needs often overlap. To achieve meaningful progress, the revised pathway will need to be underpinned by a concrete operational plan, a clear resource mobilisation strategy, and a robust accountability framework aligned with CAADP3 priorities.
Central African Republic: decentralising governance for transformative change
The Central African Republic (CAR) is laying the foundations for a more inclusive and coordinated food systems transformation. In 2023, the government placed national coordination under the authority of the Prime Minister’s Office and launched a decentralised structure designed to engage stakeholders across all levels of society. However, this initiative has yet to be formalised. At the heart of this effort are five thematic working groups focused on key priorities: governance, food security, gender-climate convergence, monitoring and implementation, and resource mobilisation.
“What matters now is that everyone is included—civil society, youth, and indigenous communities. The idea is to decentralise this transformation and make it real at every level,” said Armelle Siopathis, Director of Food Security and Nutrition at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. This bottom-up approach reflects a broader shift across the region toward more democratic and participatory governance of food systems.
While still in its early stages, CAR’s model aims to build credibility and capacity from the local level upward, laying the groundwork for stronger alignment with continental frameworks such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and increasing the country’s readiness to access regional and international support for food systems transformation.
Barriers to scale: where commitment meets constraints
Despite encouraging progress, several persistent challenges continue to constrain the pace and depth of food systems transformation across the continent. Chief among these is financing. Although political commitment is visibly growing, most countries have yet to develop coherent strategies to mobilise domestic resources, access climate finance, or effectively engage the private sector. Heavy reliance on fragmented donor funding and short-term project cycles continues to undermine sustainability and scale.
Inclusion is another critical gap. While gender and youth are widely acknowledged as priorities, this recognition has not translated into sufficient investment or institutional support. Women farmers and young agri-entrepreneurs continue to face systemic barriers to participation and access to finance.
In terms of accountability, countries vary widely in their ability to track progress and demonstrate impact. Madagascar has taken important steps with a national digital platform for real-time monitoring, but most countries continue to face gaps in baseline data, performance tracking, and results-based reporting. These limitations weaken national accountability and make it harder to align with global and continental frameworks such as the CAADP Biennial Review.
As the continent moves toward the UNFSS+4 Stocktaking Moment and begins implementing the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan, it is essential that national food systems pathways evolve from vision statements into actionable frameworks. Countries are calling for stronger alignment with CAADP framework, backed by increased investment in delivery mechanisms capable of translating ambition into measurable progress. There is also growing demand for access to digital public goods, deeper South-South knowledge exchange, and more integrated coordination platforms to improve alignment across sectors and scale successful innovations.
What unites these countries is not only a shared set of challenges, but a collective determination to build resilient, equitable, and sustainable food systems from the ground up. Their experiences demonstrate that national leadership, cross-sector collaboration, and community-based solutions are driving a new era of food systems transformation in Africa, emphasises Lie Maminiaina, Political Adviser at the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate. As one participant at the South-South dialogue aptly summarised, “We are not waiting for transformation to happen: we are building it ourselves, with each other.”
This spirit of ownership and solidarity must now be matched by international partners through coherent, long-term support. As Francine Picard, Coordinator of the Zero Hunger Coalition, concluded, “The future of Africa’s food systems will not be defined by declarations alone, but by shared actions and mutual accountability.”
Country representatives shared this information during the Zero Hunger Coalition South-South Dialogue, held online on 22 May 2025.
