Strengthening Partnerships for Sustainable Agrifood System Development in Africa

The document examines Germany's engagement with African agrifood systems through the BMEL, BMZ, and GIZ, finding that while funding has grown, it remains primarily aid-driven and insufficient for systemic transformation. It recommends transitioning toward market-oriented partnerships, leveraging the AfCFTA and the CAADP Kampala Declaration to promote value addition and private sector investment.

• Germany's current engagement with African agrifood systems is predominantly based on aid, with insufficient promotion and support for the private sector's role in transformation.
• The BMZ invests approximately EUR 2 billion annually in global food security and rural development, with about one third of this funding directed toward 25 participating African countries through the Transformation of Agricultural and Food Systems Special Initiative.
• African agricultural growth has remained stagnant at 2.6% per year, failing to meet the 6% annual growth target set under the CAADP Agenda, with only the SADC region surpassing this target at 8.23% as of 2022.
• Intra-African food trade is significantly lower than in other regions, with African countries obtaining only 22.9% of their food import demand from other African states.
• The study recommends a paradigm shift for German-African partnerships, moving from aid provision to investment in value addition and trade, specifically scaling private sector engagement across agrifood value chains.
• Germany has implemented specific targeted financial initiatives, including a EUR 21 million Food Systems Development Program (FSDP) for rural agri-SMEs and a EUR 6.5 million allocation until 2029 for the African-German Centre for Sustainable Food Systems and Agricultural Data Science.

APA

Kingstone (2025). Strengthening Partnerships for Sustainable Agrifood System Development in Africa. Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/strengthening-partnerships-for-sustainable-agrifood-system-development-in-africa

Chicago

Kingstone. Strengthening Partnerships for Sustainable Agrifood System Development in Africa. Africa Policy Research Institute, 2025. https://afripoli.org/strengthening-partnerships-for-sustainable-agrifood-system-development-in-africa.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kingstone |title=Strengthening Partnerships for Sustainable Agrifood System Development in Africa |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=30 June 2025 |url=https://afripoli.org/strengthening-partnerships-for-sustainable-agrifood-system-development-in-africa |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kingstone2025strengthening, author = {Kingstone}, title = {{Strengthening Partnerships for Sustainable Agrifood System Development in Africa}}, institution = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://afripoli.org/strengthening-partnerships-for-sustainable-agrifood-system-development-in-africa}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }