The IGAD Parliamentary Forum on Agrifood Systems has been launched to help Africa fight hunger amid growing concerns about Africa’s slow progress in eradicating hunger and poverty by 2025 signaling a new phase in which political leadership is expected to drive food system governance.
The Forum will be composed of elected Members of Parliament from across IGAD countries who serve on parliamentary committees responsible for agriculture or related sectors.
The launch took place in Nairobi at the end of an intensive Training for IGAD Committee of Ambassadors and Parliamentarians on Agrifood Systems.
All member states are eligible to send two representatives to the Forum, reflecting balanced and inclusive participation in the region.
The representatives should be actively engaged in legislative activity that responds to the thematic aim of the Forum, i.e., agriculture and development.
The Forum membership is represented by the eight IGAD countries against the common background of allegiance to regional cooperation and policy exchange in agriculture and related issues.
The IGAD Parliamentary Forum on Agrifood Systems will drive the demand for inclusive and sustainable change by influencing the design of policy, mobilizing investment, and aligning activities against CAADP targets.
It will offer expert inputs into national and regional legislation and budgets, ensuring that they align with resilience and transformation priorities. Through participation in CAADP Biennial Reviews, it will promote accountability and transparency.
The Forum will collaborate with regional bodies, national focal points, and multisectoral stakeholders to drive agrifood system goals, while also engaging in high-level continental dialogues on food security and sustainable development, resources permitting.
The members will meet at least twice a year or as and when necessary. In her address during the closing ceremony, the IGAD Head of Mission in Kenya, Dr. Fatuma Adan, underscored the pioneering role of the Parliamentary Forum as a bridgehead for regional dialogue and legislative concordance.
She emphasized the importance of stepped-up cooperation between national governments and parliaments as central to advancing IGAD’s shared vision of peace, prosperity, and sustainable development among member states.
IGAD Foreign Service Institute Director Mohamed Omar Djama emphasized the need for renewed commitment to agricultural management following the Kampala Declaration and stark conclusions of the 4th CAADP Biennial Review.
He emphasized the fundamental contribution of parliamentarians and ambassadors to spearhead coordination, investment, and policy harmonization, especially through the establishment of the new IGAD Parliamentary Working Group on Agrifood Systems.
At the 2024 AU Assembly, in official terms, it was announced that Africa is off-course in meeting the 2025 targets comprising the Malabo Declaration.
The continent’s leadership was accompanied by a new CAADP Strategy for the period 2026–2035 that aims to bring in an all-encompassing agri-food systems approach, combining agriculture, nutrition, climate change adaptation, and pro-poor economic growth.
The continent’s leadership responded with a new CAADP Strategy for 2026–2035, designed to foster a holistic agri-food systems approach, interweaving agriculture, nutrition, climate adaptation, and inclusive economic growth.
“Your leadership is what makes possible the realization of these commitments,” added Dr. Mohi Tahomi, IGAD Director for Cooperation and Regional Integration.
He insisted that legislators have the mandate to mobilize resources, fund research and infrastructure, and enact legislation for fair agrifood systems.
Diplomats, on their part, are tasked with promoting regional coordination, advocating for climate and food financing, and forging cross-sectoral partnerships for resilience.
This new Working Group aims to formalize joint leadership between Parliamentarians and Ambassadors in IGAD’s food systems governance. It also serves to domesticate regional commitments and harmonize cross-border agricultural investments and policies.
In pivoting to parliamentary action, IGAD is redefining what regional agricultural reform requires: not only data and dialogue, but democratic decision-making.
This new approach champions political commitment as the missing ingredient in achieving Africa’s vision for food sovereignty and prosperity.
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