Mahmoud Ali Youssouf Says Africa Could Become Global Food Basket

What changed

African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said Africa could become a global food basket if it transforms its agrifood systems. Speaking in Addis Ababa on November 3 at an AU-IFRC High-Level Convening, he tied that ambition to the Kampala Declaration and the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan for 2026–2035.

Why it matters

Youssouf’s message was that hunger is not only an emergency to manage. Climate change, conflict and shocks to global food supply chains are worsening food insecurity and malnutrition, so the response must also build more resilient food systems.

That shifts the focus from relief alone to governance, political commitment and coordinated action across the continent. The Kampala framework gives that effort a continental direction, but the statement remains an ambition rather than a production programme: no funded projects, country targets or implementation deadlines were announced.

The practical test will be whether the agenda produces durable progress toward Zero Hunger and gives African countries greater capacity to feed their own populations. Only then can the larger promise of becoming a global food basket move beyond a powerful speech.