Former President Goodluck Jonathan has challenged African leaders to move beyond declarations on agricultural transformation and take concrete action to boost productivity, food security, jobs and prosperity.
Mr Ikechukwu Eze, Jonathan’s Special Adviser, made this known in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said Jonathan spoke at an African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) Investors Forum held in Kigali on the sidelines of the African Food Systems Forum.
Speaking earlier at a youth-centred event themed “Igniting Youth Food Systems Leadership”, Jonathan urged African countries to encourage young people to embrace and invest in agri-food systems.
He also called for appropriate incentives to support youth participation and innovation in the sector.
Jonathan, who is AATF’s Goodwill Ambassador for Agricultural Technology, said Africa’s agricultural transformation must move beyond policy frameworks and political commitments.
He said agriculture was foundational to the continent’s future, stressing that food security, industrialisation, youth employment and climate resilience depended largely on the sector’s performance.
“Put simply, if Africa is to achieve the growth, prosperity and development to which it aspires, agriculture must be at the centre of our efforts,” he said.
Jonathan noted that African leaders had demonstrated political commitment through frameworks such as the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the Malabo Declaration.
He, however, said the challenge was to translate those commitments into measurable investments, policies and programmes that reached farmers and delivered tangible results.
“Africa’s food systems stand at a critical crossroads,” Jonathan said, citing increasing climate shocks, rapid population growth and limited economic opportunities for young people.
He also identified persistent gaps in storage, processing and market access as major challenges to agricultural transformation.
According to him, addressing those challenges requires stronger partnerships among governments, research institutions, the private sector, farmer organisations, development partners, donors and investors.
Jonathan stressed the importance of agricultural technology in accelerating transformation, saying proven innovations must move beyond laboratories and pilot projects to reach farmers across the continent.
He said his experience as Nigeria’s president reinforced his conviction that sustained investment in agriculture could create jobs, increase household incomes and strengthen food security.
Jonathan said this conviction informed his decision to accept AATF’s invitation to serve as its Goodwill Ambassador for Agricultural Technology.
He commended AATF for its work over the past two decades in advancing agricultural technologies and supporting policy and regulatory environments for innovation.
Jonathan called for continued public-private collaboration to ensure proven technologies reached farmers while investment was mobilised to develop the next generation of agricultural solutions.
“AATF’s next decade will be shaped by two priorities that must advance together: scaling technologies that have already been proven to reach farmers’ fields, and developing the next generation of solutions for our farmers,” he said.
He urged investors and development partners at the forum to see themselves as partners in Africa’s agricultural transformation.
“Neither can succeed without capital and partners willing to support an African institution with a verifiable track record,” Jonathan said.
He urged investors to consider how their capital, expertise and networks could support AATF’s priorities.
Jonathan said the forum should mark the beginning of sustained engagement between AATF and potential partners as the organisation seeks to mobilise resources over the next five to 10 years.
He said Africa had articulated its vision for agricultural transformation, but the task was now to finance, implement and deliver it at scale.
Jonathan said agriculture must be treated not merely as a sector but as a central engine of Africa’s economic transformation and development.
The AATF Investors Forum, attended by more than 5,000 participants from over 50 countries, had the theme “Investing in Africa’s Agri-Food Systems.”
