José Graziano da Silva | 07/11/2025
Few stories of the 21st century embody as much hope and frustration as Africa’s struggle against hunger. Hope, because the continent has already shown its ability to reduce malnutrition and promote inclusive agricultural growth, drawing inspiration from models born in the Global South. Frustration, because twenty years after the Maputo Declaration, some 256 million Africans still live in food insecurity. What went wrong? And, more importantly, what can still go right?
This was one of my key messages during the inaugural lecture at the latest edition of the Brazil Africa Forum, held earlier this week in São Paulo under the theme “Global Partnerships for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security.” The Forum brought together leaders, policymakers, and experts from both regions to discuss how renewed cooperation can accelerate the transformation of food systems in Africa and beyond.
In 2003, as Brazil launched the Zero Hunger (Fome Zero) programme, African leaders gathered in Maputo to adopt the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)—a pact to invest 10% of national budgets in agriculture and achieve 6% annual agricultural growth. The continent seemed ready for a rural renaissance. And indeed, in countries such as Ghana, Benin, Malawi, Niger, and Nigeria, the combination of political will, social programmes, and international support led to the achievement of Millennium Development Goal 1C: halving hunger by 2015.
Yet progress was uneven. Droughts, conflicts, climate change, and dependence on food imports have eroded recent gains. Today, while the world speaks of “healthy diets,” millions of African families still struggle simply to eat. In this context, Africa once again turns towards South–South cooperation, revisiting the Brazilian experience and adapting it to new realities.
When FAO, the Instituto Lula, and the African Union Commission joined forces in 2012 to explore the idea of a “Zero Hunger for Africa,” the dialogue was grounded in a simple conviction: hunger is not destiny—it is a political choice. Inspired by Brazil’s success—lifting 40 million people out of poverty and enshrining the right to food as a state policy—African leaders decided to adapt Brazilian tools to their own contexts. This led to the creation of programmes such as Purchase from Africans for Africa (PAA Africa), the Parliamentary Fronts against Hunger, and the African School Feeding Day.
PAA Africa demonstrated that purchasing from smallholder farmers to supply school meals creates a virtuous cycle between production, nutrition, and dignity. Supported by FAO, WFP, and the Brazilian government, the initiative helped design policies in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, and Senegal, connecting family farmers to local markets and ensuring nutritious meals for schoolchildren. Similarly, social protection programmes such as Senegal’s Bourse de Sécurité Familiale and Ghana’s LEAP drew inspiration from Brazil’s Bolsa Família, proving that income transfers do not breed dependency but rather autonomy and empowerment.
Cooperation also extended to water management. The project “One Million Cisterns for the Sahel,” based on Brazil’s semi-arid experience, brought simple and low-cost technologies to thousands of rural families in Niger, Burkina Faso, and Senegal. Each cistern built meant less hunger and more time for women to cultivate, study, or care for their families. From water to food, Brazil showed that social policies can indeed flourish in African soil.
This growing connection between Africa and South America played a crucial role in the Lula Institute’s Africa Initiative, which between 2011 and 2016 promoted technical missions, policy exchanges, and leadership training in over 30 countries. The guiding principle was clear: not to export models, but to share experiences. Each country would adapt the ideas of Zero Hunger to its own realities, building its own pathway to food and nutrition security.
This collaborative vision produced tangible results. In 2014, ECOWAS adopted its own Zero Hunger Initiative, based on its regional agricultural policy (ECOWAP), and achieved a historic reduction of hunger to less than 9% of the population. In Niger, the initiative “3N – Nigeriens Nourish Nigeriens” incorporated elements of Zero Hunger, combining agriculture, nutrition, social protection, and climate resilience under a single national strategy. As in Brazil, the programme established inter-ministerial coordination, decentralisation, and community participation, focusing on concrete outcomes.
These experiences demonstrate that the fight against hunger is effective only when policies are integrated, not fragmented. Production must be linked to income generation, school feeding, nutrition, and water access. This integrated approach—towards sustainable and inclusive agrifood systems—is precisely what the new CAADP (2026–2035) seeks to consolidate.
The Kampala Declaration, approved by African Heads of State in 2025, marks the beginning of a new era. The updated CAADP aims to transform agriculture into the engine of sustainable, resilient, and inclusive agrifood systems, combining investment, trade, and social protection. The goal is not only to produce more but to produce better—with fewer emissions, less waste, and greater social justice.
The commitments made in Kampala reflect the maturity of a continent that has learned from its own contradictions. The 10% budget target for agriculture remains valid, but it is now accompanied by new climate finance instruments, inter-ministerial governance mechanisms, and mutual accountability frameworks. Women and youth are no longer seen merely as beneficiaries but as protagonists. And nutrition, once a secondary theme, now stands at the centre of agricultural policy.
This paradigm shift also recognises that Africa’s food security depends on regional integration. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)—signed by 54 countries—may well be the most ambitious economic project since independence. By reducing tariffs, harmonising sanitary standards, and fostering regional value chains, AfCFTA could triple intra-African food trade by 2035. In a continent where fertilisers cost up to four times more than in Europe and logistics account for much of the final price of food, opening markets and investing in infrastructure are as vital as increasing production.
However, trade integration is not an end in itself. The real challenge is to make it work for smallholder farmers, who produce most of Africa’s food but remain marginalised from formal markets. To achieve this, the Kampala Declaration and AfCFTA must advance together—lowering trade barriers, enhancing competition, and providing financial support to cooperatives and micro-agri enterprises.
The challenges Africa faces today—hunger, poverty, climate, and conflict—are complex and interconnected. The continent is warming 1.5 times faster than the global average, with droughts and floods becoming increasingly frequent. In Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, war and instability have displaced millions, disrupting markets and humanitarian assistance. Over 60 million Africans now suffer from acute hunger—a regression reminiscent of the worst years of the 1990s.
Yet what distinguishes the present from the past is the rise of African-led solutions. The African Solidarity Trust Fund for Food Security, created in 2013, has already financed projects in 41 countries, supporting 160,000 families in Niger alone. Parliamentary Fronts for the Right to Adequate Food, inspired by Latin American experiences, are helping to enshrine food security in national constitutions and budgets. The new CAADP introduces political accountability indicators—a crucial step to turn commitments into results.
Brazil can continue to be a strategic partner on this path—not only as a technical reference but as a political example of coherence between discourse and practice. That was what inspired the continent twenty years ago, and it is what the world needs to recover today. Hunger is not a technical problem; it is a matter of priorities. The world spends US$2.7 trillion annually on weapons, yet only US$315 billion would be enough to feed everyone who goes hungry—less than 12% of global military spending. Inequality is not inevitable; it is a choice.
Today’s Africa is not the Africa of 2003. There is more urbanisation, more education, more connected youth, and more women leading cooperatives and local governments. There is also a growing awareness that food sovereignty is inseparable from political sovereignty. By adopting the new CAADP and strengthening the AfCFTA, the continent is embracing a development model that combines sustainable production, social inclusion, and economic integration.
Perhaps the greatest legacy of Zero Hunger in Africa is not the replicated programmes but the change in mindset it inspired. It showed that it is possible to think big through simple policies and that hunger can be defeated when the state trusts its people—and the people trust the state. That trust is the ingredient no external aid can provide—and upon it, the future depends.
The Kampala Declaration and the AfCFTA therefore represent more than new agreements: they embody a political renewal, a reaffirmation of Africa’s ability and right to shape its own food future. The challenge is immense, but the continent has already shown it can learn, adapt, and innovate.
Twenty years ago, Brazil inspired Africa to dream of a Zero Hunger world. Perhaps now it is Africa’s turn to inspire the world—showing that cooperation, solidarity, and political courage remain the most powerful weapons against hunger.
José Graziano da Silva is Emeritus Professor at Unicamp and Director-General of Instituto Fome Zero
