Eastern and Southern Africa are at a pivotal moment to transform their food systems into engines of economic growth, and development. With a rapidly growing population, urbanization, and shifting dietary preferences, the region is experiencing a surge in demand for safe, nutritious, and accessible food.
At the same time, challenges like climate change, land degradation, and supply chain inefficiencies are forcing a rethinking of how food is produced, processed, and distributed. The region is home to over 230 million people, many of whom are extremely poor and face significant challenges accessing adequate, safe, and nutritious food every day. In 2024, approximately 62.9 million people, or 25% of the analyzed population in seven out of eight IGAD countries, are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity in 2024.
These dynamics open up a wide array of opportunities—from leveraging digital innovations, scaling climate smart agriculture to strengthening regional trade. Governments, private sector players, and development partners are increasingly recognizing that transforming food systems is not only necessary for food security, but also a key pathway for job creation, poverty reduction, and inclusive growth.
A first of its kind High-Level Learning Event for Food System Resilience Program (FSRP) for Eastern and Southern Africa, was held in Addis Ababa in March 2025. The event was convened by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC), the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), and the World Bank.
The Food Systems Resilience Program is vital for job creation as it stimulates employment across the entire agricultural value chain—from production and processing to marketing and distribution. By investing in climate-resilient infrastructure and practices, the program opens up opportunities for rural employment. It also fosters entrepreneurship, particularly among youth and women, especially through providing access to market linkages.
The learning event aimed to strengthen institutional learning and promote cross-country knowledge exchange within the FSRP. It focused on translating evidence into action, advancing digital transformation, supporting trade integration, and improving Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) compliance. The event created a dynamic, multi-level platform to accelerate learning, elevate policy dialogue, and align FSRP interventions with national, regional, and continental priorities.
During the conversations at the event, participants highlighted an urgent need for continuous learning within and between countries to ensure lessons are applied effectively in program implementation.
As expressed by Dr. Abdi Fidar, Director for IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Center, “Knowing what each country is doing in its program. Member states are learning from one another. What are the best practices, and how can we narrow existing gaps.”
Participants also emphasized the need to have a more structured mechanism to capture knowledge capture from different countries to help it application.
The event put a spotlight on the potential of digital technology to boost agriculture productivity and resilience, with many countries eager to adopt what others have done.
“We are already learning about digitization from Kenya, and we want to learn more from Ethiopia who are already more advanced,” said Teddie Nakhuma, FSRP Program Coordinator in Malawi.
The benefits of digital technology can be truly achieved when they are scaled up. Digital tools like farmer registries and real-time advisory services were highlighted as important innovations. But the region faces challenges such as limited digital literacy and infrastructure, data protection and fragmented platforms. Participants stressed the need for regional coordination and better support systems to effectively use these tools.
Participants also highlighted trade challenges, such as inconsistent policies and sanitary and phytosanitary standards, continue to hinder trade within Africa, and experts called for unified standards and investment in compliance systems. Trade scorecards and digital traceability tools were seen as promising innovations to address these challenges. However, there were concerns about the lack of common standards, weak enforcement, and underused data. More training would be needed to fully realize the potential of these tools.
Finally, strengthening collaboration between African countries and aligning with the African Union’s agenda is key to building a more resilient food system across the continent. A culture of continuous learning among the countries needs to be embedded in the region’s efforts for a more food secure future.
We need a platform for us to exchange ideas and learn from other partners. We need to learn how others are interacting with the countries and countries need to hear our expectations, so we can move forward together,” said Dr Majola Mabuza, APPSA Regional Coordinator.
As Eastern and Southern African countries edge ever nearer to 2030 and the goal of ending hunger, there is no shortage of good ideas on how to get us there. Countries now have the opportunity to kickstart and accelerate investments that will drive better outcomes for generations to come.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The World Bank Group.
