AfCFTA Secretariat and AGRA forge partnership to transform African Agriculture through trade

The African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat and the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing both institutions to translating the AfCFTA’s legal framework into tangible benefits for Africa’s smallholder farmers, informal traders, women, and youth while building resilient agricultural value chains across the continent.

The MoU, signed by AfCFTA Secretary-General ,Wamkele Mene and AGRA President, Ms. Alice Ruhweza on the margins of the 39th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, formalises cooperation between two of Africa’s most influential institutions in agriculture and trade.

By bringing together the AfCFTA’s continental trade framework with AGRA’s deep expertise in agricultural systems and smallholder farmer engagement, the partnership creates a powerful platform for agricultural transformation.

At the heart of the agreement is a commitment to ensure that trade liberalisation under the AfCFTA delivers value-creating outcomes for the continent’s most vulnerable agricultural stakeholders. Small-scale farmers, who constitute the majority of Africa’s agricultural producers, often lack the scale, organisation, and market access needed to benefit from trade opportunities.

The partnership is designed to address these gaps through targeted interventions that help smallholders aggregate production, meet quality standards, access finance, and connect with buyers in continental markets.

Women and youth feature prominently in the MoU, reflecting recognition that these groups face specific barriers to participating in agricultural trade. Women, who dominate both food production and informal cross-border trade in many African countries, contend with limited land rights, restricted access to credit, and disproportionate exposure to harassment at borders. The partnership commits to developing programmes that advance women’s economic empowerment in agricultural value chains and create pathways for youth participation in modern, technology-enabled agribusiness.

The collaboration is anchored in the AfCFTA Agri-Trade Action Plan, a strategic framework designed to increase intra-African agricultural trade, dismantle barriers preventing farmers and agribusinesses from accessing continental markets, and promote investment in value-added agricultural production and agro-industrialisation.

The signing ceremony’s timing at the AU Summit underscores the strategic importance both institutions attach to the partnership. By formalising cooperation at Africa’s premier political gathering, the AfCFTA Secretariat and AGRA have positioned agricultural trade transformation squarely within the continental development agenda, signaling that translating policy frameworks into farmer prosperity and food security is a shared continental priority requiring coordinated institutional action.