Youth Take the Lead as Africa Food Systems Forum 2025 Opens with Bold Calls for Action

Addis Ababa, September 2, 2025 (FMC) – The Africa Food Systems Forum 2025 opened in Dakar, Senegal, with an emphatic appeal to place youth at the center of agricultural transformation and food security on the continent.

The week-long summit, convening more than 6,000 delegates from 80 countries, including over 2,000 young participants, drew heads of state, global leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs determined to chart a new course for Africa’s agri-food future.

In his keynote address, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye underscored his country’s commitment to youth-led innovation, highlighting Senegal’s Community Agricultural Cooperative as a model of empowerment. Declaring that Africa possesses the means to feed both its own people and the wider world, he urged collective will, mobilization of resources, and unity of purpose to make food systems the foundation of an African renaissance rooted in dignity, sovereignty, and shared development.

Hailemariam Desalegn, Chair of AGRA and former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, reinforced this vision, stressing that transformation of Africa’s food systems hinges on the convergence of political resolve, financial capital, and the dynamism of young people. He pressed governments to expand domestic financing and champion youth-driven innovation.

AGRA President Alice Ruhweza added a sense of urgency, cautioning that the Forum must move beyond words into concrete action. She praised the resilience of farmers, women leaders, and agripreneurs, but warned that Africa cannot overcome hunger without decisive investment. “We cannot grow what we do not fund,” she declared, noting that hundreds of millions still face food insecurity, with Africa carrying the heaviest burden.

Momentum surged during the Youth Town Hall, where five young entrepreneurs engaged directly with Presidents Faye and Paul Kagame of Rwanda. Their appeals ranged from scaling youth-led agribusiness and expanding digital integration, to improving women’s access to markets, boosting digital literacy for farmers, and investing in food processing to position Africa as a global powerhouse.

Both leaders pledged stronger policy and financial support in response. President Kagame encapsulated the moment: “Africa’s future belongs to those bold enough to innovate, and our role as leaders is to clear the path for them.”

As the opening session concluded, the Forum’s direction was unmistakable. Leaders committed to strengthening intra-African trade, mobilizing greater investment, and ensuring youth and women remain at the heart of food systems transformation. President Faye closed with a rallying call: “This is not just a conference. It is a movement. Together, we can build the Africa we want—an Africa that feeds itself and the world.”