A reflection on the 22nd CAADP Partnership Platform

Twenty years of sustaining African agency in agricultural transformation

A reflection on the 22nd CAADP Partnership Platform

“Communities are not the final recipients of development. They are the starting point and co-architects of transformation.”

A defining moment in Harare

When the 22nd Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform concluded in Harare on 18 September 2026, one question stayed with me: how can Africa’s agricultural transformation be shaped by the people whose lives and livelihoods are at its centre?

The gathering took place as countries move from the Malabo commitments towards implementation of the Kampala Declaration and the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan 2026–2035. The challenge is no longer only to articulate continental ambition. It is to translate that ambition into national investment, accountable institutions and tangible improvements in livelihoods.

For TrustAfrica, participation in Harare during our twentieth anniversary was an occasion to reflect on two decades of supporting African organisations, movements and communities to shape the decisions that affect them. It was also an opportunity to advance a proposition: we must stop treating communities as the “last mile” of development and recognise them as the first mile of transformation.

The first mile: architects, not recipients

Development language often places farmers, women, young people and rural communities at the “last mile”. Although intended to emphasise reaching underserved people, the phrase can imply that policies and solutions are designed elsewhere and delivered to communities at the end of the process.

Yet communities generate knowledge, sustain food systems, experience climate risks and develop solutions every day. Farmers shape agricultural transformation through their seed systems, producer organisations, local markets, collective action and innovation. They are not waiting for transformation to arrive.

Reversing the narrative changes the questions we ask. Instead of asking only how investment can reach communities, we must ask how communities can define investment priorities, influence institutions, allocate resources and assess results. It means treating farmer organisations as knowledge holders, economic actors and partners in decisions—not merely beneficiaries of programmes.

“Agricultural transformation should not begin in policy rooms and end in communities. It should begin with communities and travel into the institutions that shape their futures.”

Inclusion must change livelihoods

This perspective informed my contribution to the Partnership Platform panel on Inclusion and Livelihoods. The question was not simply who participates in agricultural programmes, but what determines whether participation produces better livelihoods.

A woman farmer can be enrolled in a programme while remaining excluded from secure land tenure, affordable finance and reliable markets. A young person can receive training without access to land, capital or viable work. A farmer organisation can attend a policy dialogue without influencing the budget or implementation decisions that follow.

Inclusion therefore has to be assessed through agency, economic opportunity and the distribution of resources, risks and benefits. Who sets the agenda? Who decides? Who retains value? Answering these questions requires attention to structural barriers—from insecure land rights and climate exposure to unequal bargaining power across agricultural value chains.

From consultation to co-creation

At Harare, TrustAfrica also engaged with the CAADP Non-State Actors Group (CNG), including its side event. The conversations reinforced the need for farmers, civil society, women and youth constituencies to help shape implementation of the Kampala agenda—not simply endorse plans after they have been drafted.

Meaningful participation requires influence over national agricultural investment plans, public expenditure, implementation arrangements and accountability. It also requires taking seriously the alternatives communities already build: community-led seed systems, collective approaches to land rights, producer networks and market arrangements that improve bargaining power and retain value locally.

Our engagement with farmer organisations and movements, including the Rural Women’s Assembly, demonstrates the importance of collective action in creating alternatives as well as influencing policy. The measure of participation is not the number of people in the room; it is whether their contributions change decisions, investment and outcomes.

Taking the conversation beyond Harare

On 18 September, I also contributed to SABC Channel Africa’s Africa Rise and Shine programme. That conversation offered another opportunity to connect continental commitments with the everyday realities of African farmers and communities.

Agricultural policy cannot remain the preserve of technical experts and policymakers. Public engagement means making commitments accessible, amplifying community perspectives and creating opportunities for citizens to question the decisions made in their name. The discussion must travel from Harare into national investment plans, budgets, local institutions and producer organisations.

The next twenty years begin at the first mile

The Kampala Declaration offers a renewed framework for agricultural transformation. Its promise will be tested by whether implementation addresses the conditions that shape livelihoods: secure access to productive resources, climate resilience, fair value distribution, decent opportunities and public accountability.

As TrustAfrica marks twenty years of sustaining African agency to shape the future, our commitment is to strengthen the organisations, movements and institutions through which people shape development on their own terms. The future of Africa’s food systems cannot be judged only by the scale of investment or the ambition of declarations. We must also ask who defines priorities, controls resources, carries risks and benefits from the value created.

The journey from the first mile to the continental table must be a two-way journey. Communities must shape decisions at that table, and those decisions must strengthen their agency, livelihoods and resilience.

“Africa’s transformation will be shaped by the agency of its people. Our task is to build institutions, policies and investments that recognise and sustain that agency.”