AFS Forum

Last week , I attented the Global Food Week 2025 in Abu Dhabi , an international event designed to celebrate food in all its forms—highlighting culinary cultures, sustainability, innovation, and global food security. Under the leadership of Saleh Lootah and UAE Food Cluster, we have initiated a long term partnership with other partners to achieve together one goal: Africa, UAE, GCC and other regions contributing to the Global Food Security . It’s a marathon quoting Saleh but we have the right ecosystem in place to achieve this goal. Thanks to our friends and brothers from UAE, organisers Vaheed and colleagues for associating us to this successful event. This was a concrete follow up of our partnership signed at the AFSF2025 Dakar summit in September !

Last week, the Africa Food Systems Report launched. Formerly known as the Africa Agriculture Status Report, which has built a strong legacy of showing both where we are and where we are headed. I’m grateful to have been part of the effort to bring this report to the world, and what made it even more meaningful was the challenge it gave me personally: to bring together the two worlds I live in. On one hand, my professional work in food systems. On the other, my art. I took pen and watercolor to paper and created a drawing, and with the help of a few video editing tools, created a narration explaining the first chapter. So, this is my experiment in finding more engaging ways to interact with reports, something many of us keep saying we need. This was my attempt, my artwork. The report’s theme is Drivers of Change and Innovation. For me, that also meant pushing myself to innovate. I’d love to hear what other creative approaches people have seen or tried in making reports and research more accessible and engaging. You can read the full report here https://agra.org/afsr/ #AFSR Chilufya Chileshe Andrew Cox Aggie Asiimwe Konde Humphrey C. AGRA Paul Newnham

In 2023, we launched the Food Bridge Project to connect with academics, entrepreneurs, farmers, and professionals across the agriculture industry. So far, the journey has taken us to Kenya, UAE, Egypt, and most recently, Senegal. In Senegal, we dug deeper into the agricultural value chain and food culture in both Dakar and St. Louis. We traveled by road for five hours from Dakar to Saint-Louis all to immerse ourselves in the heartbeat of food: how it’s grown, how it moves, and how it connects people. We were hosted by Abass M. in St. Louis who took us on a visit to CIPA. I was struck by how the centre is teaching agriculture and empowering people. From young beginners to experienced practitioners, they’re learning cutting-edge, hands-on skills in crop production. What impressed me most was how CIPA supports vulnerable communities (those affected by climate change or exclusion from formal education), equipping them with the tools to improve their livelihoods. This is how we continue telling our food story, this is the Food Bridge Project in Senegal 🇸🇳 African Food Changemakers AFS Forum Leading African Women in Food Fellowship #Agriculture #foodystems #foodsecurity #agroecology #sustainableagriculture #climatesmart #agtech #Agribusiness #Africafoodsytems #Africanfood #Madeinafrica #Africanfarmers #Feedingafrica #Foodbridgeproject #storytelling #Valuechain #SDG #womeninagriculture #senegal #dakar #nigeria

“We aim to grow the 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (YWAA) to have a membership of over 5,000 young women aggregators." Arabuko Limited C.E.O, Clariece Mwikali, shares insights on Arabuko’s journey and the vision behind the YWAA; to empower smallholder farmers and build stronger, more inclusive food systems across Kenya and beyond.🌍 #AFS2025 Grateful to the Mastercard Foundation ,AGRA and the AFS Forum for creating the space to share our vision and connect with changemakers across the continent.💚 #BuildingFoodSystems #YouthInAgribusiness #KeepGrowing