By Moses Magadza in Johannesburg, South Africa

Parliamentarians from SADC Member States have concluded a high-level meeting and training toward transforming food systems and eradicating hunger in Southern Africa with strong commitments to legislative reforms, regional cooperation, and rights-based governance of agrifood systems.

Convened from 22–24 July 2025, the inaugural meeting of the SADC Parliamentary Alliance on Agrifood Systems, Food Security and Nutrition, coupled with an intensive Subregional Training on Legislating the Right to Adequate Food, brought together lawmakers from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) co-hosted the event with support from Germany and Spain.

The initiative marked the formal launch of the SADC Parliamentary Alliance on Agrifood Systems, a regional platform to bolster food security and nutrition through legislative harmonisation, oversight, and inclusive policymaking.

It included a two-day training programme on the right to adequate food, where parliamentarians explored key legal tools and principles to anchor food rights within domestic laws.

The training focused on core obligations under the Right to Food Guidelines; integration of the Pan-African Parliament Model Law on Food Security and Nutrition; legal safeguards for indigenous and traditional food systems; and oversight mechanisms for accountability and inclusive governance.

In a joint communique read by South African Member of Parliament Honourable Ntombovuyo Veronica Mente-Nkuna, the lawmakers welcomed the training as a timely capacity-building intervention which enhances their ability to craft responsive legislation and hold governments accountable for food-related commitments.

The meeting culminated in the development of a two-year work plan which aligns the Alliance’s work with existing SADC PF structures and commits parliaments to strengthen budget oversight and policy harmonisation; institutionalise monitoring and evaluation mechanisms; and mobilise political and financial resources to sustain progress.

The Alliance will serve as a strategic vehicle to help parliaments translate regional frameworks such as Agenda 2063, SDG 2, and the new Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP 2026–2035) into national legislative agendas, thereby bridging global aspirations with local action.

The MPs unanimously endorsed a set of resolutions, including commitments to align national food legislation with international and continental frameworks; promote intra-African trade in safe and nutritious food, in line with the AfCFTA; advocate for food systems that uphold dignity, especially during emergencies or conflict; and engage strategically in global fora such as the 2026 Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition, to be hosted in Midrand, South Africa.

They also pledged to represent Southern African perspectives at international platforms such as the G20 and P20, ensuring regional priorities on food security and agrifood transformation are amplified on the global stage.

The communiqué stressed the need for inclusive, accountable, and rights-based food systems across the SADC region. MPs expressed appreciation to the FAO for its legal and technical guidance, to SADC PF for its leadership, and to the governments of Germany and Spain for their support in strengthening food governance capacities.

The parliamentarians reaffirmed their resolve to forge a Southern Africa where food is not a privilege, but a guaranteed right anchored in law, protected by oversight, and sustained by regional solidarity.

The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Namibia, Hon. Philipus Wido Katamelo, called on regional parliaments to intensify legislative action to address food insecurity. He described the right to food as “a sacred obligation that is never suspended, even in times of war or emergency.”

“The right to food is at the nexus of the realisation of various other rights, including the right to education, the right to health, and ultimately, the right to life itself, yet food insecurity remains one of the region’s gravest challenges,” Hon. Katamelo said.

He noted that 67.7 million citizens of Southern Africa were projected to experience acute food insecurity in the 2024/25 season – “a 24.5% increase from the previous year.”

He identified several underlying causes of the region’s food crisis, including entrenched poverty, climate change, high unemployment, inadequate investment in food systems, and weak governance structures. He called on parliamentarians to embrace their constitutional duties of legislation, oversight, and representation to confront these challenges.

“Parliamentarians can contribute significantly to building more sustainable food systems. But to do so effectively, they must be capacitated, especially in understanding the linkages between national legislation and international frameworks such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ICESCR, Agenda 2063, and the SDGs,” he stressed.

He also championed the revival of native food crops and locally adapted agricultural practices as a path to sustainability and inclusivity.

“Africa’s native crops and fauna have been ignored in favour of exotic varieties, yet they are more resilient and require less input. Our farmers, mostly small-scale producers, remain marginalised and excluded from the agrifood system. We must retrace our steps, and parliamentarians should be at the forefront of this effort,” he stated.

He described the alliance as “an excellent forum for capacitation of parliamentarians in the collective effort to address hunger, malnutrition, and agrifood system sustainability.”

Additionally, he acknowledged the SADC PF’s role in shaping regional leaders.

 “The Forum has been instrumental in shaping a number of current and former Heads of State in the region, at the time they served as parliamentarians, a record the Forum must be very proud of,” he said.

Addressing the workshop via Zoom, Dr. Patrice Talla, FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa, pledged continued support to the region’s parliaments in advancing the right to food and transforming agrifood systems to combat hunger and malnutrition.

 “Our strong and enduring partnership, soon to be further solidified through a forthcoming Memorandum of Understanding, remains a cornerstone of our shared progress,” he said.

Talla added, “733 million people suffer from chronic hunger – one in five in Africa. 2.3 billion are food insecure, and 2.8 billion lack access to healthy diets. These figures are not just statistics; they are a call to action.”

He stressed the need for systemic transformation across the entire agrifood value chain, from production to consumption, guided by a human rights-based approach.

He reminded delegates that the right to food is not aspirational, but a legal entitlement, enshrined in global and African human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

He noted that the workshop hadset the course for the Alliance’s operationalisation and established a clear work plan for the future. 

The FAO representative also acknowledged the role that parliamentarians play in strengthening agri-food systems governance.

He drew attention to the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan (2026–2035), which calls on parliaments to promote inclusive policies and ensure accountability through oversight and resource allocation.

Talla announced that the next World Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition will be held in 2026 at the headquarters of the Pan-African Parliament in Midrand, South Africa. He lauded the SADC PF’s support in securing the venue and encouraged continued participation.

“The SADC PF will also be invited to a pre-Summit meeting at FAO headquarters in Rome in November 2025, which will bring together key parliamentary institutions to finalise the Summit’s content around three main pillars: economic, social, and environmental,” he revealed.

At the advice of the Secretary General of SADC PF, Ms Boemo Sekgoma, the election of the Alliance’s governing bodies was postponed to allow for broader consultations.

The workshop ended with renewed resolve among participating parliamentarians to champion inclusive, rights-based approaches to food security and nutrition across Southern Africa.

-Moses Magadza is the Media and Communications Manager at the SADC Parliamentary Forum.