• African Food Systems Forum opens in Dakar, focuses on youth
• Leaders highlight youth's role in transforming agriculture sector
• Event draws 6,000+ participants, spotlights new CAADP roadmap

The 2025 African Food Systems Forum (AFSF) opened in Dakar, Senegal, with a focus on youth as a driver of agricultural transformation.

Hosted by Senegal after Kigali (Rwanda) in 2024, the event is organized by 33 partners including the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). It is  expected to draw nearly 6,000 participants—policymakers, private sector leaders, farmers’ organizations, civil society, and development partners.

The forum was officially launched by Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was joined by Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, former Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Mariam Dessalegn, and Senegal’s Agriculture Minister Mabouba Diagne.

Themed “Africa’s Youth: Driving Collaboration, Innovation, and the Transformation of Agri-Food Systems,” the summit highlights the role of the continent’s fast-growing young population in a sector that contributes nearly a quarter of Africa’s GDP. With Africa home to the world’s largest youth population, the organizers are focusing on the involvement of this demographic in agricultural development and their future role in transforming the sector. Due to demographic growth, increasing food needs, and nutritional challenges, African youth are more crucial than ever on the agricultural front. Their involvement is key to unlocking socio-economic opportunities and the necessity of reducing reliance on food imports to build sustainable food sovereignty.

Sessions through September 5 will address land access, finance, innovation, and technology. The forum will also review the African Union’s new Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP/PDDAA), a roadmap for 2026–2035 to strengthen food sovereignty and cut reliance on imports.

Espoir Olodo