Organizers: AKADEMIYA2063, African Union Commission, Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (AUC-DARBE), African Union Development Agency, NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD), and Consortium of African Youth in Agriculture and Climate Change (CAYACC).
Africa’s agrifood systems are undergoing profound changes, driven by the effects of climate change, a fast-growing, youthful, and urbanizing population, and evolving food demand. In response, African leaders adopted the Kampala CAADP Declaration in January 2025 to accelerate efforts to transform Africa’s agrifood systems. To be successful, the transformation requires inclusive approaches that center youth as leaders and innovators and leverage Africa’s rich local expertise to foster sustainable agrifood systems.
Youth-led innovations are making significant contributions to enhancing agrifood systems and include technological solutions, sustainable agricultural practices, and community-driven initiatives. African centers of excellence offer critical technical skills and deep contextual understanding essential for an evidence-based and locally relevant transformation. They were part of the teams that supported the work of 13 Technical Working Groups that provided analysis to help define strategic priorities for the next decade of CAADP, outlined in the Kampala CAADP Strategy and Action Plan for 2026–2035.
As countries move to implement the Kampala Declaration, this side event will convene diverse stakeholders to identify concrete pathways for harnessing local expertise and youth-led initiatives to support a successful CAADP implementation and drive an inclusive agrifood system transformation.
