{"id":1191,"date":"2025-04-30T18:49:47","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T18:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrifuture-mea.com\/?p=1191"},"modified":"2025-04-30T18:49:47","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T18:49:47","slug":"africas-agricultural-future-is-in-capable-hands-will-our-leaders-seize-the-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrifuture-mea.com\/?p=1191&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Africa\u2019s Agricultural Future Is in Capable Hands: Will Our Leaders Seize the Moment?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Permanent Secretaries from across the continent gathered in Lusaka on the 10th April, for what was billed as a \u201cleadership dialogue,\u201d Estherine Lisinge-Fotabong, Director of Agriculture, Food Security and Environmental Sustainability at AUDA-NEPAD, stepped up to the podium and issued a powerful reckoning:\u00a0Africa\u2019s Agriculture has potential\u2014and the very people who can accelerate it are in the room!<\/em><\/p>\n

For over two decades, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has been the continent\u2019s flagship for food security and agricultural growth. There have been wins\u2014boosts in productivity, better trade integration, and more investment. But Lisinge-Fotabong didn\u2019t come to Lusaka to applaud the past. She came to sound the alarm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe Will Miss the Malabo Targets\u2014and That\u2019s on Us.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

With 2025 around the corner, the stark truth is this: Africa will not meet the promises made under the 2014 Malabo Declaration. From financing gaps to fragmented policies, from climate shocks to political inaction, the structural cracks are widening.<\/p>\n

But the real alarm?\u00a0We know exactly what needs to be done.<\/em><\/p>\n

A Blueprint Ignored<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lisinge-Fotabong laid out the cold facts and the warm truths: CAADP is still a powerful tool, but it needs fuel\u2014country ownership, real implementation, and above all, bold leadership. She stressed that policy papers and lofty plans mean nothing if they\u2019re not rooted in national systems, budgets, and cross-sectoral coordination.<\/p>\n

And the private sector?\u00a0\u201cEngage them not as spectators, but as partners,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0she urged. The Kampala Agenda, freshly adopted by African Heads of State, gives a new direction\u2014but it demands action, not applause.<\/p>\n

The Real Power in the Room<\/strong><\/p>\n

Her message to the Permanent Secretaries was pointed: \u201cYou are not just technocrats. You are gatekeepers. You are nation builders.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The success of the Kampala Agenda doesn\u2019t hinge on Presidents or Development Partners\u2014it hinges on whether Permanent Secretaries can translate ambition into action.<\/p>\n

She asked tough questions:<\/p>\n