‘Africa could help feed the whole world,’ Senegalese president says

Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Monday said Africa could help feed the whole world, arguing that youth must be at the heart of agricultural transformation.

Speaking at the opening session of Africa Food Systems Forum in the Senegalese capital of Dakar, Faye said Africa has "all it needs" to become self-sufficient in food and could help "feed the whole world."

With 65% of the world's arable land, a creative youth, and immense resources, our continent has the assets to build its food sovereignty, he added.

Faye urged Africa to rely on itself to achieve food security and to adopt a solution-led approach, saying it required massive investments in water management, innovation, local processing, and intra-African trade.

At the annual summit, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said Africa "can't keep depending on the rest of the world when we have everything, when our people know what to do, when there is, really, nothing lacking."

"We need to move from talking to doing. The youth must also step up and match their demands with real action," he added.

The Africa Food Systems Forum, running through Sept. 5, aims to bring together stakeholders to promote sustainable and inclusive agri-food systems across the continent.