100africa.com

By Antony John Muchoki
Lilongwe, Malawi – May 2025

Africa is not short of vision. It is not short of bold declarations, compelling roadmaps, and frameworks filled with potential. For more than two decades, a steady stream of strategies—Maputo, Malabo, CAADP, Agenda 2063, AfCFTA, and most recently, the Kampala Declaration—have attempted to lay a foundation for agricultural transformation, rural development, and food security. But when we peel away the policy gloss, a stark truth remains: Africa’s food insecurity is growing, not shrinking.

In 2024 alone, over 120 million people in Eastern and Southern Africa required urgent food assistance, more than double the number in 2016. That number, perhaps more than any other statistic, underlines the wide and painful gap between rhetoric and reality.

This is why the Regional Dialogue on Food Systems Transformation, held in Lilongwe from May 21–23, 2025, arrived not as just another development summit, but as a much-needed moment of reckoning. Co-hosted by the Government of Malawi, the Government of Ireland, and the World Bank through its Food Systems 2030 Multi-Donor Trust Fund, the dialogue brought together ministers, development partners, researchers, youth leaders, and farmers to ask a critical question: What will it take to move from declarations to delivery?

The Weight of the Past, and the Promise of the Present

The theme“Making Food Systems Transformation a Reality in Eastern and Southern Africa” was not chosen lightly. It reflected a growing regional awareness that resilience, equity, and sustainability must no longer be aspirational buzzwords. They must become outcomes. Tangible. Trackable. Felt.

Yet, the region’s food system challenges are deep-rooted and multi-layered: degraded soils, fragmented markets, inefficient subsidies, gendered barriers, climate shocks, and fiscal constraints, among others. Many of these problems have been studied, debated, and acknowledged for years. What has been missing is systematic, coordinated, and courageous implementation.

In his powerful closing remarks, Malawi’s Vice President, Rt. Hon. Dr. Michael Bizwick Usi, issued what might be the most important call of the conference:

“Let us embrace accountability mechanisms that track our progress—not for external approval, but because our citizens deserve delivery, not delay.”– Rt. Hon. Dr. Michael Bizwick Usi, Vice President of Malawi

That one sentence should become the rallying cry of Africa’s food systems movement.

A Blueprint for Action: The Value of These Ten Articles

This special supplement brings together ten features, each grounded in the substance of presentations delivered at the Lilongwe Dialogue. They are not think pieces. They are not policy briefs. They are living documents—built on evidence, grounded in experience, and designed for replication. They show that transformation is possible.

From Ethiopia’s trade corridors and seed pricing innovations to Kenya’s youth-led Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) ecosystems, from Tanzania’s fight against soil acidity to Malawi’s bold repurposing of subsidies, these ten features outline a blueprint that moves beyond theory.

Each story offers more than ideas; it provides models of what works when ambition is matched with execution.

But they also serve as a reminder: we have seen bold plans before. We have launched pilots that never scaled. We have cut ribbons on programs that were never funded again. We have written vision documents that gather dust.

That is why the Lilongwe Dialogue—and this supplement—must not become another chapter in Africa’s long history of intent without impact. We owe our farmers, our children, and our continent a new story—one where we deliver.

Four Critical Messages from Lilongwe

From the robust discussions, four consistent and critical messages emerged:

1. Data Must Drive Investment

Multiple speakers, including Dr. Ousmane Badiane and Mansur Ahmed, emphasised that national agricultural strategies must be anchored in evidence, not assumptions. We cannot plan for food systems transformation without knowing where the pain points—and the leverage points—are. Public expenditure reviews, soil maps, seed system diagnostics, and value chain analyses must inform every policy decision.

2. Soil Is the Foundation of Everything

Tanzania’s Eng. Juma Mdeke brought the soil crisis to the surface—literally. With over 2.7 million hectares affected by acidity, productivity is plummeting in some of the country’s most critical breadbaskets. Programs like the Tanzania Food System Resilience Program (TFSRP) are leading the way in responding to this crisis, but the rest of the region must follow. Without soil health, there is no food security.

3. Finance Must Be Bundled, Smart, and Accountable

Whether it’s fertiliser subsidies, climate-smart agriculture, irrigation, or digital extension services, finance emerged as a recurring theme. But not just more finance—better finance. Bundled packages that de-risk investments. Vouchers that promote sustainability, not just short-term access. And above all, budgetary commitments that survive political cycles.

4. Delivery Is a Political Act

As Dr. Badiane eloquently noted, transformation is not about good intentions. It is about how countries manage their political economy of reform. It is about governance, incentives, and aligning stakeholder interests. In other words, delivery is a choice.

Words of Warning—and Hope

It is easy to be cynical. Many participants in Lilongwe have been to similar dialogues before. Some have seen their work shelved or underfunded. Others have witnessed the disconnect between national-level strategies and realities in the village.

But this editorial issues a call to not surrender to cynicism.

The Lilongwe Dialogue featured something rare: convergence. Technical experts, government leaders, and development partners all seemed to agree on the diagnosis and on many of the solutions. What remains is the political will, institutional coherence, and cross-border coordination to implement at scale.

This supplement aims to keep the momentum alive—not by repeating what was said, but by spotlighting what must now be done.

The Path Ahead: From Lilongwe to Legacy

As we publish these ten features, we invite policymakers, funders, researchers, and practitioners across the region to treat them not as reports, but as blueprints. Study them. Share them. Scale them. And most importantly, integrate their lessons into national budgets, district strategies, and regional platforms.

Africa cannot afford to let another promising summit fade into memory.

Let Lilongwe 2025 be remembered not for what was said, but for what was delivered after.
Let it be remembered not as an event, but as a turning point.

Because the truth is this: our farmers are not waiting. They are innovating, adapting, and surviving. It is we—governments, donors, experts—who must catch up with their courage and urgency.

Now is the time to move. Not in months. Not in years. Now.