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The links between trade and food security and nutrition are inherently complex yet undeniably affect the six dimensions of food security: availability, access, utilisation, stability, sustainability and agency (High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) (2020). Reforming regional and pan-African trade and policy for the agroecological transition must therefore shift from policies that promote uniformity under the influence of the industrial agriculture model and the green revolution to embrace food sovereignty and diversity (International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPESFood) 2016), from global supply chains to localisation and territorial markets (Abrego et al. 2020). Territorial markets are food distribution systems directly linked to local, national and/or regional food systems. They are typically organised horizontally among various stakeholders. Significantly, within their respective territories, they also serve multiple functions beyond mere food supply – economic, social and cultural – and are often most remunerative for smallholder farmers. Evidence suggests that the role of territorial markets in strengthening local food systems and entrenching the right to food is gaining prominence. Recently, the second Agroecological Entrepreneurs and Territorial Markets Convening organised by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) was successfully held in Harare in September 2024, demonstrating an emergent agroecological transition (AFSA 2024; Muigai et al. 2024). Conversely, adherence to neoliberal orthodoxy means that customs procedures, taxes, permits and administrative trade costs, among other vestiges of trade, continue to be maintained to deliver the promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The AfCFTA is an arrangement between member countries that aims to create conditions for the free flow of trade among them, in which there are no import tariffs; that is, taxes on imported goods or any other barriers on imported goods from members of the same free trade agreement (African Export–Import Bank 2024; United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) 2023; Bonuedi et al. 2020). If overcoming tariff and non-tariff barriers and narrowing the divergence between food-related provisions of regional economic communities can be integrated with efforts to promote agroecology and prioritise territorial markets and food sovereignty, then Africa could be on its way to addressing its food, health and environmental crises. Bridging the gap between these two narratives is crucial to ensuring food sovereignty, the right to food, and that the food systems transition to agroecology indeed takes place (Narula 2024; Owasa & Kabaseke 2024; Fakhri 2021). Philanthropy can play a catalytic role in shaping trade measures and policies that ensure food security for sustainable food systems by providing financial resources, expertise and advocacy to support progressive movements such as the AFSA in challenging an entrenched industrial, capital-intensive food system that is controlled by a limited number of dominant multinational corporations and facilitated by the globalisation and financialisation of food systems (Narula 2024; Elver 2023). Philanthropy can also help bridge existing gaps between research, practice and policy, ensuring that trade policy, tariffs and nontariff measures that act as barriers to trade are aligned with ecological sustainability, social equity and economic resilience. By fostering innovation, collaboration and systemic change in trade, philanthropy can play a crucial role in transforming African food systems for a more sustainable and equitable future.