African Union Chair Calls for Agricultural Overhaul to Cut Food Imports

What changed

African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf has called for a structural overhaul of agriculture to cut Africa’s roughly $100 billion annual food-import bill.

Speaking on October 28 in Moscow, he linked expanded irrigation, fertilizer access, research, skills and technology transfer to stronger domestic food production. The proposal also calls for closer cooperation between African institutions and Russian agricultural businesses.

Why it matters

The central problem is stark: only 6% of Africa’s arable land is irrigated, even as countries import rice, maize, wheat and edible oils at enormous cost.

Youssouf’s argument is that food security will not come from buying more food abroad. It will come from building the systems that let African producers grow, process and sell more of it at home. That means irrigation and fertilizer, but also the less visible machinery around farming: research, skills, technology and local value chains.

That shift could keep more value inside African economies while making food supplies less dependent on external markets. Russia’s role, as described, would be investment, expertise and technology transfer rather than a single announced project.

The practical test is still ahead. No funding commitments, country-level projects, timetable or expected reduction in imports was announced.