The agrifood system is central to safeguarding food security, ecological environment, and sustainable socioeconomic development, encompassing the entire chain from production, storage, and processing to consumption. Currently, the global agrifood system is confronting multiple pressures, including resource scarcity, environmental degradation, and climate change. Statistics indicate that agricultural production accounts for 27% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, consumes 70% of freshwater resources, and contributes to 60% of terrestrial biodiversity loss. As developing regions home to 77% of the world’s population, China and Africa are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Amid these challenges, how can agrifood system transformation be leveraged to achieve efficient resource utilization, enhance climate resilience, and ensure food security?
Recently, an in-depth study addressing this question was jointly conducted by Associate Professor Ting Meng from the College of Economics and Management at China Agricultural University, in collaboration with researchers from the Research Institute for Eco-civilization of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Alliance of Biodiversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Senegal). The study offers systematic solutions for developing countries, and the related article was published in Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering (DOI: 10.15302/J-FASE-2025646).
Adopting a “systems perspective”, this study analyzes the resource, environmental, and climate challenges faced by the agrifood systems in China and Africa. The research reveals that while China and Africa have made progress in addressing these challenges—for instance, improving production capacity through agricultural technology cooperation in areas such as hybrid rice development and irrigation system construction—existing initiatives mostly focus on isolated production links, overlooking the systemic drivers behind the underperformance of agrifood systems. In contrast, the “food systems approach” places greater emphasis on the interconnections among production, distribution, access, and consumption. It enables a more comprehensive identification of leverage points across the entire system, from inputs and infrastructure to market dynamics, thereby providing a new framework for China–Africa cooperation in tackling complex, multifaceted challenges.
The study elaborates on the common and region-specific challenges confronting the agrifood systems of China and Africa. In terms of resources, China faces issues such as a reduction in arable land, uneven distribution of water resources, and declining soil quality. Africa, on the other hand, is severely affected by land degradation, deforestation, and biodiversity loss. From a climate perspective, extreme weather events directly impact agricultural production. Meanwhile, markets and supply chains are also disrupted: for example, Africa’s high reliance on food imports means that climate-induced trade disruptions exacerbate fluctuations in food prices.
To address these challenges, the study summarizes practices implemented by China and Africa to enhance system efficiency, resilience, and sustainability. In terms of efficiency improvement, China has actively promoted the construction of high-standard farmland and implemented the Grain Production Capacity Enhancement Plan (2024–2030). Africa, through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), has encouraged countries to allocate 10% of their budgets to agriculture, aiming for an annual growth rate of 6%. For resilience building, China has leveraged the Hainan South Breeding Silicon Valley to develop stress-tolerant crop varieties and promoted maize-soybean strip cropping. Africa has established the “Africa Seed System Excellence Center” and supported 210,000 smallholder farmers in developing agroforestry. In the realm of sustainability, China has implemented crop rotation and fallow systems, launched black soil protection programs, and adopted a zero-growth policy for fertilizers and pesticides. Africa has initiated the “African Soil Program” and the “Great Green Wall” project, which have already increased vegetation cover by 15% in Ethiopia and created 1.5 million jobs.
The study further proposes four key pathways for China–Africa cooperation to drive agrifood system transformation. On the production side, the two parties can share climate-smart technologies; for example, China’s “Science and Technology Backyard (STB)” model has been extended to Africa, providing on-site guidance to enhance smallholder farmers’ adaptability. At the supply chain level, efforts should be made to strengthen trade liberalization and investment cooperation—for instance, signing a China–Africa Free Trade Agreement could potentially increase bilateral food trade by 0.01%–13.4%. On the consumer side, the promotion of sustainable diets, such as the introduction of carbon footprint labels to guide low-carbon consumption, is recommended. From a policy perspective, the establishment of a “China–Africa Food Policy Network” is proposed, which will facilitate high-level dialogue to coordinate strategic food reserves and the development of digital infrastructure.
This study provides practical references for the transformation of agrifood systems in developing countries. Through the systems approach and South-South cooperation, the experiences of China and Africa not only help alleviate local resource and environmental pressures but also contribute “solutions from developing countries” to global food security and climate governance.
DOI: 10.15302/J-FASE-2025646