Africa urged to scale up agrifood financing
staff writer | Wednesday May 20, 2026 06:00
Released in Accra, Ghana, on April 30, 2026, the latest Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition paints a troubling picture of a continent grappling with persistent hunger, limited agricultural investment and growing inequality in accessing nutritious food.
The report reveals that hunger in Africa has increased for the eighth consecutive year since 2017, with an estimated 306 million people now undernourished. This represents more than 45% of the global total of undernourished people. At the same time, approximately 892 million Africans are facing moderate or severe food insecurity, largely driven by conflict, climate shocks, economic downturns, and widening social inequalities.
According to the report, although government expenditure on agriculture, forestry and fishing has shown a steady upward trend since 2018, the pace of investment remains insufficient to meet targets aimed at ending hunger and transforming agrifood systems. Fiscal pressures facing many African countries continue to undermine the sector’s ability to expand and modernise.
The report further highlights that external development assistance directed toward food security and nutrition remains limited, with less than 27% of official development assistance allocated to the sector during the reporting period. Private investment also remains critically low, with bank credit to agriculture accounting for less than four percent of total lending across African economies.
Foreign direct investment into food and agriculture continues to lag behind potential, with annual inflows often remaining below $2 billion. Small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises have been identified as some of the hardest hit, as many are considered too large for microfinance institutions yet too small to qualify for traditional bank financing.
The four organisations behind the report stressed that transforming Africa’s agrifood systems will require stronger collaboration between governments, development partners and the private sector. They called for improved policy and institutional frameworks capable of reducing investment risks and attracting long-term financing into agriculture and food systems.
In the joint foreword, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa Abebe Haile-Gabriel, ECA Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist Hanan Morsy, AUC Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment Moses Vilakati and WFP Assistant Executive Director Rania Dagash Kamara said financing for agrifood transformation must directly contribute to eliminating hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms.
The report recommends expanding access to affordable credit, strengthening the capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises and increasing the use of blended finance and climate finance mechanisms. Between 2020 and 2023, Africa recorded 99 blended finance deals in agrifood systems worth approximately $3 billion. However, most of these investments targeted larger firms, leaving smaller nutrition-focused enterprises struggling to secure capital.
Climate finance has also been identified as a major untapped opportunity. Africa received approximately $44 billion in climate finance during 2021 and 2022, representing a 48% increase compared to two years earlier. Despite this growth, the figure remains significantly below the estimated $250 billion annual target required for the continent to achieve its climate objectives.
The report warns that the rising cost of healthy diets is worsening food insecurity. The average cost of a healthy diet in Africa reached $4.41 purchasing power parity dollars per person per day in 2024, an increase of 5.5 percent from the previous year. This is more than double the international extreme poverty threshold of $2.15 PPP dollars per day.
As a result, nearly 67% of Africa’s population could not afford a healthy diet in 2024, compared to the global average of 32%. Child malnutrition also remains a major concern, with stunting amongst children under five exceeding 30% across the continent despite some gradual improvements.
The report emphasises that reversing worsening food insecurity trends will require large-scale financing from public, private, domestic and international sources. It further urges governments and development partners to align investments with inclusive and sustainable policies that position agrifood systems as engines of economic growth, resilience, and improved public health.
Key continental initiatives such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme and the African Continental Free Trade Area were also identified as critical frameworks capable of supporting stronger financial flows and accelerating agrifood transformation across Africa.