COMMUNIQUE?

Adopted by the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU), at its 1332^nd meeting held on Tuesday, 24 February 2026, that was dedicated to a Consultation with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD):

The Peace and Security Council,

Acknowledging the link between food security, peace and security; and that investing in food security is investing in peace and security;

Recalling the AU Theme for 2026, namely: “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063”; and the Kampala Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Declaration on Building Resilient and Sustainable Agrifood Systems in Africa, adopted by the AU Extraordinary Summit on Post-Malabo, held on 9 January 2025 in Kampala, Uganda, which aims at increasing the continent’s agrifood output by 45% by 2035;

Also recalling Decision [Assembly/AU/Dec.813(XXXV)] adopted by the 35th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government held from  5 to 6 February 2022, in Addis Ababa, which declared 2022 as “the Year of Nutrition and Food Security”; the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods” adopted in Malabo in June 2014; the Abuja Declaration on Fertilizers for the African Green Revolution adopted during the AU Special Summit held in June 2006; and the Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) adopted in July 2003;

Further recalling its previous decisions and pronouncements on Food Security and Conflict in Africa, in particular, Communiqué [PSC/PR/COMM.1083 (2022)] adopted at its 1083rd meeting held on 9 May 2022, which was in line with the AU Theme of the Year 2022, namely: “Building resilience in nutrition on the African Continent: accelerate the human capital and social economic development”; and reaffirming the commitment to silence the guns in Africa by the year 2030;

Taking note of the opening remarks by H.E. Ambassador Dr. Obaida Eldandarawy, Permanent Representative of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the AU and Chairperson of the PSC for the month of February 2026; the Introductory Remarks by H.E. Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security; and the presentation by Dr. Janet Edeme, Head, Rural Development Division, on behalf of H.E. Moses Vilakati, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (ARBE); and also taking note of the presentations by Dr. Abebe Haile Gabriel, Ag. Director General of FAO; by Ms. Lydie Kouame from the WFP and by Ms. Sara Mbado-Bhunu from IFAD; and

Acting under Article 7 of its Protocol, the Peace and Security Council:

1. Expresses deep concern over the adverse impact of violent conflicts and climate change on food security and nutrition, and in this context, stresses the need for Member States to continue to further strengthen their agriculture sectors and natural resources governance, in order to guarantee food security and prevent resource-based conflicts;

2. Emphasizes the bi-directional causality and intertwined relationship between conflict and food security, and peace and security on the continent, and that food insecurity on the continent is linked to armed conflicts and violence;  

3. Also emphasizes the link between conflict and conflict-induced food security and the threat of famine and calls on all parties to armed conflict to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law regarding respecting and protecting civilians and taking constant care to spare civilian assets, and refrain from attacking, destroying, removing or rendering useless assets that are indispensable to the survival of the civilian population;

4. Emphasizes the need for Member States to comprehensively address the structural root causes of violent conflicts and instability and for those countries in intractable conflicts to give peace a chance by accepting political solutions to their conflicts;

5. Commends the efforts being deployed by the AU Commission, Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (ARBE), working in collaboration with all other regional and international organizations, including WFP, FAO and IFAD, in providing technical assistance to Member States aimed at promoting food security;

6. Welcomes the establishment of the Feed Africa Strategy and the African Risk Capacity (ARC) initiative, which provide insurance against droughts and other climate-related shocks, enabling African governments to respond quickly to crises and preventing food shortages from spiralling into full-blown humanitarian disasters;

7. Requests the AU Commission to incorporate food security indicators within the AU Continental Early Warning System (CEWS); and to also include food insecurity in the Matrix of Threats to Peace and Security in Africa that was adopted in August 2025;

8. Mindful of the gender dimension of food insecurity and its disproportionate impact on women and children, emphasizes the need for Member States to empower women by ensuring their access to land rights, finance, agricultural inputs, technology and leadership in food resources management;

9. Underlines the need for strengthening the alignment between peace-building strategies and agricultural recovery programmes in conflict-affected settings in the Continent, and in this context, calls for debt relief considerations for all countries where violent conflicts are exacerbating hunger and food insecurity;

10. Encourages Member States to prioritize investments in food security, by among others, promoting climate-resilient/smart agriculture, sustainable land use and integrated water resources management, including promoting the effective participation of the private sector to mitigate resource-based and food-related conflicts, as well as to enhance adaptation strategies;

11. Also encourages Member States to accelerate efforts to further strengthen regional food self-sufficiency through the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), including by enhancing intra-Africa agricultural/food trade and value chain;

12. Calls for the prioritization of investments in regional fertilizer production, strategic grain reserves, building storage infrastructure, and agro-processing industrial capacities, in order to reduce excessive external dependency and exposure to global shocks such as market price volatilities; 

13. Further encourages Member States to create and further strengthen safety nets to mitigate food insecurity, guarantee social protection, establish and strengthen subsidy mechanisms, and to cushion vulnerable populations against food price volatility and economic shocks;

14. Reiterates the call on Member States to promote energy diversification and renewable energy solutions to reduce the impact of rising oil prices on food production systems;

15. Emphasizes the need for home-grown school feeding programmes integrating agriculture, health and education and complemented by the supply of nutrient-dense (emergency food) in conflict-affected areas;

16. Stresses the importance of linking emergency responses with investments in restoration of conflict damaged agriculture infrastructures such as grain silos, irrigation systems, warehouses, dams, among others;

17. Also stresses the importance of enhanced and structured collaboration and cooperation between the AU, in particular, the Department of Agriculture Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (ARBE), the PSC and the Rome-Based Agencies, including through joint planning, harmonized interventions and pooling of resources to ensure sustained impact in advancing resilient food security systems  and rural transformation across the African Continent and, in this context, decides to institutionalize and regularize the joint consultative meeting with the Rome-Based Agencies as a biennial event every two years, with the hosting alternating between Addis Ababa and Rome; and proposes to hold the first session in Rome in October 2027, on the occasion of World Food Day, and

18. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter. 

COMMENTS