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As part of the 2025 Paris International Agricultural Show, and a month prior to the Nutrition for Growth summit, AFD and the Académie d’agriculture de France organized a roundtable and strategic brainstorming session on transforming African and European food systems, and redefining current partnerships. At a time when these systems of production and consumption can no longer provide enough food for people without destroying the planet, the transition to more sustainable food systems is essential.
« The Earth can no longer provide us with enough food, » said Pape Abdoulaye Seck, former Minister of Agriculture and Ambassador of Senegal, while at AFD headquarters on Thursday, February 13. Our current food model has clear limitations, and the interdependency of African and European food systems also raises issues.
Food systems that are destroying the planet
According to Christophe Chauveau, Managing Director of AVSF – Agronomists and Veterinarians without Borders, the term « food system » refers to « agricultural systems including different modes of production, distribution and consumption. »There must be an overhaul of these systems via which food is produced and processed to feed the population of a given territory: « conventional systems produce too much food, of poor nutritional quality, and also destroy the environment.»
According to Mr. Chauveau, there needs to be a shift away from production-driven models, that are heavily reliant on synthetic fertilizers and chemicals, to more sustainable food systems that generate less chemical pollution. Other stakeholders in the agroecological transition are advocating this approach, like Patrick Caron, a researcher at CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Center for International Development), who offers a more precise definition: « Agroecology represents a paradigm shift in how we produce and consume food, while taking into account a host of other issues, like the environment, climate change, public health, social justice, and so on. »
The food industry also has a major impact on soil degradation and loss of biodiversity. According to IPCC reports, the agricultural industry is the second largest emitter of CO2, accounting for 24% of global emissions. Paradoxically, it is also one of the sectors most directly affected by climate change, but it can also contribute effectively to mitigation and adaptation.
Interdependent food systems
« We need to develop a fairer model of global trade.» For Patrick Chauveau, malnutrition in Africa is exacerbated by European food systems that export food products with little nutritional value. On the flip side, Europe’s overly strict environmental standards penalize access to the European market for agricultural products from African family farms. « These standards have resulted in a complex and expensive traceability system, for which European consumers are not willing to foot the bill. As a result, small farming cooperatives in Africa are having to absorb these costs.»
Recommendations are being put forward to reshape partnerships between African and European food systems, such as involving consumers in these debates, investing in value chains, supporting regional initiatives and building stronger partnerships between African and European civil society organizations.
Supporting the transformation of food systems
AVSF advises local NGOs on lobbying for public policies that support these efforts and recognize farmers’ key role in the supply chain. As Patrick Caron says, « transforming food systems requires both technical and institutional reform: we need a system in place, both nationally and internationally, that offers incentives for adopting healthy, sustainable food systems and penalizes those that are not. »
AFD Group is also supporting various initiatives that are driving the shift to more sustainable food models. Among these is PAOLAO (Milk Offensive Support Project in West Africa), which is helping to implement the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) regional agricultural strategy. It aims to develop local milk value chains, in a sector that is struggling to compete with European imports of milk powder. « The challenge is not only to promote short supply chains and stop imports of a powder that is not even classified as milk by European regulatory bodies, but also to increase milk production and collection, sales of livestock feed and product development, » says Jean-René Cuzon, Project Team Leader for AFD’s Agriculture, Rural Development and Biodiversity Division.
Training is also fundamental to support the transition to agroecological food systems. Since 2008, the AFD Group has been helping Cameroonian authorities to advise farmers, via the AFOP program (Support Program for Renovation and Development of Vocational Training in the Agricultural, Livestock and Fisheries Sectors) and ACEFA (Program to Improve the Competitiveness of Family Agro-Pastoral Farms). « The aim is to adapt these advisory schemes, which have previously been focused on traditional practices and agricultural inputs, to incorporate agroecological systems, » adds Jean-René Cuzon. Through this project, which is one of a kind worldwide, almost 22,000 young people have received training, with 40% being women. 5,000 of these young trainees have now become farmers.
AFD Group also supports private-sector investment in agro-ecology as another potential solution. For example, Proparco is providing the Ivorian agri-business group SIFCA with technical support and financing to develop a sustainable development strategy that complies with environmental and social standards. Among other initiatives, SIFCA implements projects to safeguard food sovereignty for the small-scale producers with whom it works. These projects include providing access to drinking water and electricity, and ensuring their children can attend school.
Partnerships between Africa and Europe must continue to evolve, according to Bertrand Walckenaer, AFD’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer: « We need to review our current position: should we be projecting France’s views on these development projects, or rather trusting our partners and accepting that our ideas may not always be the most effective, because we don’t know as much about the climate, local stakeholders and their history as they do? » AFD Group plans to continue its approach of working « alongside others ».