African Food Fellowship

Our food systems are complex, dynamic and multifaceted. To transform them, we have to throw away usual approaches, and equip food systems leaders with the skills to design and implement healthy, inclusive and sustainable solutions. It means that diverse actors and leaders have to connect to not only ensure that no one is left behind but that the synergies yield better nutrition for Africans, better productivity of our lands and adaptability to climate changes and better agricultural business models. Ms Dorine Odongo from African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) echoed this during the #AFSForum2024. #TransformFoodAfrica

Agro-Kenya Founder and Kenya Food Fellow, Kweyu Suleiman is a man on mission to empower persons with disabilities in Kakamega County. His initiative under Agro-Kenya specifically imparts Mumias East residents with disabilities with the skills and support to invest and trade in goat farming. Through an incremental approach among his beneficiaries, he continues to grow the number of farmers further widening the pool of food and financially secure farmers in the region. Get to know our inspiring Fellow and a proud advocate for sustainable developments Goals 1 and 2 on ending poverty and achieving zero hunger on this media feature:

How do we monitor food systems leadership and learn from that? The African Food Fellowship values continuous learning and agility - experimenting, keeping what works, changing what doesn't. This is only possible with great evidence building. In this study, we draw from years of experience in food systems leadership and shares great pointers for building evidence about food systems leadership. We explore: ✅ The African Food Fellowship’s approach to monitoring and learning ✅ Tools for learning and evidence building and; ✅ Lessons learnt and reflections from the Fellowship Take a look at the study and let us know in the comments a tip you have picked from it. Wasafiri

Kenya Food Fellow, Susan Violet Omenyo is championing for sustainable, environmentally friendly socio-economic practices to empower women farmers in semi-arid and arid regions of West Pokot to restore degraded lands. By providing beehives and encouraging the cultivation of medicinal plants, wild fruits, and fodder crops, her initiative is helping the community to move away from destructive practices and toward a sustainable future. The vision Omenyo and the women farmers share is to build a future where environmental stewardship supports economic development. Through this partnership, the community of West Pokot is forging a resilient path forward. Click on the link to read more on Susan's work as a food systems leader.

To achieve a better future life and better future, the youth need to be empowered to lead change in food systems. Rwanda Food Fellow, Theogene Dusingizimana, PhD, is future-proofing food systems through teaching and passing on skills and knowledge to the next generation of food systems leaders. He makes a strong case for research and why governments need to invest more in academic research to incentivise youth to pursue it. Still on the #WorldFoodDay theme, Theogene works to make biofortified crops more accessible to Rwandans in order to address food insecurity.

To achieve a better future life and better future, the youth need to be empowered to lead change in food systems. Rwanda Food Fellow, Theogene Dusingizimana, is future-proofing food systems through teaching and passing on skills and knowledge to the next generation of food systems leaders. He makes a strong case for research and why governments need to invest more in academic research to incentivise youth to pursue it. Still on the #WorldFoodDay theme, Theogene works to make biofortified crops more accessible to Rwandans in order to address food insecurity.

It’s World Food Day! This year’s #WorldFoodDay theme, “Right to foods for a better life and a better future” highlights the importance of diversity, nutrition, affordability, accessibility as well as the safety and sustainability of foods, raising awareness about how a greater diversity of nutritious foods should be available in our fields, fishing nets, markets, and on our tables, for the benefit of all. For Kenya Food Fellow, Joy Muya, this theme resonates heavily. She is a big advocate for a world where nobody goes to bed hungry. She believes that Kenya’s persistent food insecurity is not always a result of shortfalls in production; most of the problem lies with how food is handled, distributed and consumed. That is why as some people suffer hunger and malnutrition, others, sometimes within the same neighbourhood, have surplus food that frequently ends up in landfills, contributing to food insecurity and greenhouse gas emissions. In observing the #WorldFoodDay, day, we spotlight Joy’s journey as a Food Systems leader and how she uses her legal training to right this disparity and create circularity in the Kenyan food system. Take a look 👉

Happy Tuesday! The #WorldFoodDay is observed every 16th of October and this year’s theme is “Right to foods for a better life and a better future”. For the African Food Fellowship, this theme couldn’t be timelier and more relevant. The Fellowship is driven by an ambition to transform food systems to be healthier, more inclusive and more sustainable. How do we do this? We equip food systems leaders in Africa with the skills and knowledge to develop and implement solutions to complex challenges affecting food systems today. These challenges include malnutrition, poverty, climate change, food safety, food waste, among others. Our approach starts with a 10 month world-class food systems leadership programme facilitated by the Wageningen University & Research and Wasafiri which allows Fellows to learn, reflect on their roles in the food system and build a common understanding and language around what actions are needed to bring about good change. Upon graduating from the programme, Fellows continue to take advantage of learning and connecting opportunities, identifying areas of collaboration where they can work together on actions to build more inclusive, healthy and sustainable food systems Learn about our programme here https://buff.ly/4731wZg and how you can be a part of the movement https://buff.ly/4eE2NsM

The African Food Systems Forum in Kigali presented us with lots to ponder. Perhaps the most important being that food systems leadership critically needs investment for food systems transformation. In this piece, our Deputy Director, Alex Rees notes the slow pace the continent is taking in the transformation of its food systems. This much needed change in our food systems, however, faces a myriad of challenges such as poor resilience of food systems due to climate change; lack of access of finance and infrastructure including energy, inputs and mechanisation, low political attention and losing ground on technology. How do we overcome these challenges and is there hope for the food systems transformation being sought? To answer this, Alex explores these three things: - Sourcing energy for change - Food systems leadership and what it means - Cultivating food systems leadership at scale. The African Food Fellowship opens up the space to bring together organisations, institutions and leaders to join in the shared endeavour of transforming African food systems. The opportunity is to transform food systems further and faster by going together (and not alone). Here’s how you can be a part of the movement

In our latest newsletter, Rwanda Food Fellow, UFITINEMA Adeline issues a clarion call to the private sector to join forces with the government to end childhood malnutrition in Rwanda. Not as a favour, but as a smart business move. She makes the case that if investments are not urgently made to eradicate stunting today, the private sector will have to contend with a shrinking consumer base in the next few years as families are stuck in endless cycles of poverty and their buying power diminishes. Let's take a look here