From Food Security to Food Sovereignty: A Road Map for Africa

In 2025, the number of people in Africa suffering from hunger exceeded 300 million - around 20 percent of the continent’s total population. This means that more people in Africa are suffering from hunger than in Asia, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Also in 2025, over 56 percent of the African population faced moderate or severe food security, in other words, millions of households do not have access to sufficient nutrition. The scale of these figures points to a humanitarian imperative, a priority for the continent’s sustainable economic development.

A core obstacle in Africa’s fight against food insecurity is its limited access to imported resources. The lack of fertilizers has slowed down productivity in many African countries: in 2023, the average use of fertilizers across Africa’s cultivated land stood at around 20 kg per hectare, a stark contrast to 186 kg per hectare in Asia.

Beyond inputs, the continent faces a structural financial gap. The Ten-Year Strategy 2024-2033 by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) reveals an annual $50 billion trade deficit in agriculture, with annual grain crop imports reaching $75 billion. At the same time, according to an AfDB projection, Africa’s food and agriculture market is expected to grow from $280 billion in 2023 to $1 trillion by 2030.

At this decisive stage, the need to make the shift from food security to food sovereignty becomes crucial.

It is important to draw the distinction between food security, which is concerned with fighting hunger and aims to ensure adequate nutrition, and food sovereignty, defined as a country’s capacity to chart its own course in agricultural development. Food sovereignty, of course, goes beyond agriculture – it is a crucial element for any country’s economic stability and sustainable development.

In the case of the African continent, struggling to overcome the hurdles of infrastructure, debt and harsh climate, the course toward its own agricultural production and technological capacity does not promise an easy journey. It could – and should – be made easier through cooperation with major agricultural actors. Developing partnerships with foreign partners such as the EU, China and Russia has already expanded the continent’s access to markets, technology and resources, and continues to hold great potential.

China’s role, for example, is bigger in production investment, supporting the development of technology from farming machinery to digital platforms, as well as storage and processing. At the same time, concerns have been raised about labor practices and the environmental impact of major projects. China also links productive capacity to export channels, offering African farmers access to the lucrative Chinese consumer market.

Russia plays a strategically important input-security role, specifically through the import and donation of fertilizers, helping address deficits of soil nutrients. Russia’s share of the African fertilizer market reaches 20 percent with exports growing up to 1.9 million tons in 2024. The value of this contribution can be further augmented through investment in local processing infrastructure and farmer training. Russia is able to provide both, which could create jobs and help reduce import dependence.

It is clear that reliance on short-term assistance will do little to move African nations closer to true food sovereignty. For the continent, the challenge is to convert foreign supply into local capabilities, which can be achieved through developing partnerships into long-term cooperation - a better solution for the continent’s stability and sustainability. There are several main avenues for such practical cooperation with a strategic focus:

1. Support local production of imported resources. This should focus on supporting domestic capacities such as seed systems, fertilizer mixing and manufacturing, processing, and logistics, as well as on improving access to cost-efficient technologies.
2. Leverage foreign expertise in climate-resilient agriculture. International partners can share solutions such as drought-resistant crops and research in irrigation, sustainable soil management, and other climate-optimized practices to combat meteorological instability.
3. Cooperate in agricultural R&D and technology transfer. Such cooperation can help African institutions promote local research as well as adapt technological solutions to local environments.
4. Strengthen agricultural and agro-industrial value chains. This includes storage, processing, logistics, and local markets – the major factors in reducing post-harvest losses, increasing added value, and creating jobs. For example, plentiful harvests across West Africa are left unprocessed, with up to half of the crop lost, literally rotting away. This also translates into lost export revenue.
5. Digitalize agriculture. New technology is vital for climate resilience and better access to markets. The latest achievements in AI and Internet of Things (IoT) can and should be applied to agriculture, potentially boosting productivity and harvest quality.

Working along this simple but comprehensive road map together with international partners such as China and Russia will allow Africa not only to transition from short-term assistance to long-term, mutually beneficial cooperation between all actors, but also to make the vital move from ensuring food security to achieving food sovereignty.