“Cultivating Equality” Key to Africa’s Food Security, Says Hon. Modou Lamin B. Bah

Kigali, Rwanda — Hon. Modou Lamin B. Bah, Member of Parliament for Banjul North, has called for greater investment in women as a critical step towards transforming Africa’s food systems and achieving food security across the continent.

Speaking at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, during a thematic plenary on “Women in Food Systems: Cultivating Equality, Harvesting Growth in Food Systems,” Hon. Bah stressed that Africa cannot address its food security challenges without tackling the inequalities that continue to limit women’s participation and access to resources in agriculture.

He noted that women play a central role across Africa’s food systems, from production and processing to trade and household nutrition, yet continue to face significant barriers to land ownership, agricultural finance, technology, markets and decision-making.

“You cannot fix Africa’s food systems without fixing equality for women,” Hon. Bah told participants.

He identified land, finance, markets and technology, and representation in decision-making as some of the major barriers limiting women’s contribution to agriculture. According to him, limited access to land titles also restricts women’s ability to obtain credit and invest in agricultural enterprises.

Hon. Bah called on African governments and policymakers to move beyond viewing women primarily as beneficiaries of programmes and instead position them as key investors, producers, entrepreneurs and decision-makers within food systems.

Among the measures he advocated were stronger laws and budgets supporting women’s land ownership and women-led cooperatives; financial products tailored to women farmers and entrepreneurs; improved access to agricultural technology and extension services; and greater investment in infrastructure such as water, childcare and energy to reduce the burden of unpaid care work.

He further urged governments to connect women-led enterprises to expanding regional markets, including opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Hon. Bah cautioned against policies that simply expect women to remain “resilient” in the face of recurring food, economic and climate crises.

“A resilient food system is one where a woman farmer can own land, access a loan, sell in a regional market and feed her children nutritious food,” he said.

He concluded by emphasizing that empowering women in food systems is not only a gender-equity issue but an essential pathway to greater food security, employment, economic growth and improved health across Africa.

“When we cultivate equality today, we harvest food security, jobs and health for the whole continent tomorrow. Women are not the future of food systems. Women are the present.”