The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has concluded two days of Joint Agriculture and Trade Stakeholders Consultations in Addis Ababa, with participants validating a comprehensive Agri Food Trade Action Plan designed to transform Africa’s agricultural sector into a driver of continental integration and economic growth.
The consultations brought together senior technical officials from Ministries of Trade and Agriculture across AfCFTA State Parties, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), private sector representatives, and development partners to finalize a framework that bridges the gap between agricultural production and market access across the continent.
Opening the meeting, Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, emphasized that a competitive and resilient agricultural sector is essential to realizing the AfCFTA’s objectives. “This revised Agri Food Trade Action Plan is not an abstract framework, but a practical tool designed to connect Africa’s production potential with Africa’s markets,” he stated.
The Secretary General outlined how the Plan identifies strategic value chains where Africa holds clear comparative advantages and details the reforms needed to unlock them, including reducing non tariff barriers, harmonizing standards, improving border efficiency, and investing in trade related infrastructure. He stressed that effective implementation of the Agri Food Trade Plan requires close coordination between ministries responsible for trade and agriculture, working alongside Regional Economic Communities and the private sector.
The Secretary General highlighted the need to leverage digital trade tools including the AfCFTA e Tariff Book, e Certificate of Origin, and the Pan African Payment and Settlement System to facilitate agricultural trade across borders.
Dr Janet Edeme, Head of Agriculture and Rural Development at the African Union Commission’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment, underscored the importance of the joint consultation approach. “By assembling representatives from both sectors, we foster a unified approach, thereby enhancing the coherence required for effective implementation,” she noted, highlighting the growing recognition of agriculture and trade interdependence.
Dr Alexis Kabayiza, Chief Technical Advisor in the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Rwanda, emphasized that collaboration between agriculture and trade communities at national, regional, and continental levels is essential. He stressed that shared success depends on coordinated actions guided by private sector realities and data driven solutions, reaffirming Rwanda’s commitment to working with all African Member States to translate the Action Plan into tangible gains for farmers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), processors, and consumers.
Participants aligned on five priority areas to advance agricultural trade under the AfCFTA. These include enhancing coordination between agriculture and trade policy areas, expanding strategic agri food value chains with particular focus on cotton and cashew, mobilizing sustainable financing to unlock investment and scale production, improving market access and predictability for farmers and small enterprises, and strengthening monitoring and accountability for delivery.
The Action Plan provides a practical pathway to connect production to market, retain value within the continent, and drive new opportunities across the agricultural economy, addressing a critical gap in Africa’s economic transformation.
The framework responds to longstanding challenges where African countries export raw agricultural commodities while importing processed food products, losing value addition opportunities. Africa produces significant quantities of both cotton and cashew commodities but captures limited value addition domestically. Cotton is typically exported as raw lint rather than processed textiles, while cashews are exported as raw nuts rather than processed kernels and value added products.
Developing regional value chains in these commodities would create employment, retain foreign exchange earnings and build industrial capacity. The Action Plan identifies specific interventions including harmonized quality standards, improved processing infrastructure, access to finance for processors, trade facilitation measures and coordinated export marketing strategies.
The consultations also tackled Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, which remain critical to achieving continental commitments under the African Union Agenda 2063. Despite the adoption of the AU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Policy Framework, implementation across Africa remains limited due to low awareness at national and regional levels, impeding effective domestication and resulting in foodborne diseases, pest invasions, reduced productivity, and market access losses.
AfCFTA State Parties will report regularly on implementation progress including policy reforms enacted, infrastructure investments made, trade flows achieved and private sector participation mobilized. This accountability framework aims to maintain political momentum and ensure commitments translate into action rather than remaining paper declarations.
The validation of the Agri Food Trade Action Plan represents a collaborative effort between the AfCFTA Secretariat, AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa), and UK International Development. This partnership aims to strengthen cross sectoral coordination by engaging focal points from Ministries of Agriculture and Trade, building joint ownership and deepening integration of the Plan at national and regional levels.
The consultations in Addis Ababa represent the latest step in ongoing efforts to operationalize the AfCFTA, which entered into force in 2019 after ratification by the required number of member states. Trading under preferential terms began in January 2021, though implementation has progressed unevenly across countries and sectors.
Agricultural trade faces particular challenges due to its sensitivity for food security and livelihoods, complex regulatory requirements around safety and quality standards, infrastructure deficits in rural areas, and entrenched trade patterns favoring exports to external markets over intra African trade.
Sustainable financing represents another critical priority area. Agricultural development requires substantial capital investments in irrigation, mechanization, storage facilities, processing equipment, quality infrastructure and trade facilitation systems. The Action Plan proposes mechanisms to mobilize both public and private finance, including blended finance instruments, risk sharing facilities, and strategic partnerships with development finance institutions.
Agriculture generates around US$100 billion or 15 percent of the continental GDP annually. Although its contribution to GDP varies widely from one country to another, ranging from just over 2 percent in South Africa to 35 percent in Mali, agriculture remains a critical sector for the continent in terms of employment, food security and exports.
