AGRA

Leadership initiatives in Africa have joined efforts to marshal resources to upskill over 25,000 food systems leaders. This critical mass of leaders will be essential to deliver the ambitious goals outlined in the continent’s new agricultural development strategy, the 10-year Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Kampala Declaration.

The Kampala Declaration kicked off on 1 January 2026 and stakeholders concur that this is the moment to scale investments in food systems leadership as a continental movement. The aim is to create a visible, collaborative community that can champion leadership as a cornerstone of Africa’s agri-food transformation.

“The targets contained in the Kampala document require a coordinated push from actors across the food system and will depend as much on leadership capacity as on policy and financing. We have evidence that leadership multiplies the effectiveness of technical programmes, financing mechanisms, and innovation pipelines.  We must scale and resource it to match the ambition of the decade, ” said African Food Fellowship Executive Director Pascal Murasira.

Passed by the African Union last year, the Kampala Declaration sets ambitious goals for the next decade, including a 45% increase in agrifood output, a 50% cut in post‑harvest losses, a tripling of intra‑African agrifood trade, and a rise in locally processed food to 35% of agrifood GDP. It took effect on 1 January 2026 and will run until December 2035.

Food systems leadership initiatives approximate that spending USD25 million per year on leadership programmes over a period of 10 years would equip 25,000 cross-sector leaders with the mindset, skills, tools and networks they need to turn ideas, investments and policies into action.

Africa’s food systems are entering a decisive period, with governments, regional bodies and development actors agreeing that the continent’s ability to meet its 2035 goals is no longer hinged on just technical interventions, but on building the leadership capacity required to translate ambition into impact.

While efforts to raise funding for agriculture are intensifying – including an aim by the CAADP Kampala Declaration to mobilise USD100 billion in public and private financing by 2035 – funding alone will not deliver the desired outcomes without capable leadership to direct resources effectively. The strategy calls for at least 10% of annual public expenditure to go to agrifood systems and for 15% of agrifood GDP to be reinvested into the sector each year. But much of this will hinge on whether institutions have the leadership capabilities to absorb and utilise these funds.

“The Kampala Declaration marks a shift away from narrowly technical solutions toward people-centred, systems-based approaches. This includes strengthening leadership at all levels – from community-based organisations and SMEs to policymakers and research institutions. Leaders are often the connectors who turn bold ideas into action, and this is a timely opportunity to deliberately invest in and scale that leadership,” said Ms. Lilian Githinji, Senior Specialist Institutional Strengthening & Centre for African Leaders in Agriculture, CALA at AGRA.

Several Food Systems Leadership initiatives are already operating across the continent. Programmes run by organisations including African Leadership University, African Food Fellowship, Centre for African Leaders in Agriculture, and African Capacity Building Foundation are equipping agrifood actors with skills in problem‑solving, governance, coalition‑building, and execution. Early evidence suggests such programmes can improve policy implementation, institutional performance, and community‑level results. However, these initiatives must scale and work more cohesively to increase their impact and catalyse a continental leadership movement.

“Food System Leadership is a high‑return investment that boosts the impact of technical and financial interventions. Funders and governments can accelerate transformation by backing leadership development alongside traditional programming,” added Ms Githinji.

Cathy Kamau, Specialist – Food Systems, PSC

Last week, on February 2nd and 3rd, 2026, global development partners gathered in Rome at the invitation of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for an important milestone: advancing the work of the Agri‑Food Systems Accelerator, a collaborative platform designed to support countries in transforming their national food systems.

Why the Agri‑Food Systems Accelerator Matters

Since 2022, AGRA and its partners have supported governments across Africa in developing food‑systems‑centered strategies and investment plans. Across this work, one recurring challenge has always stood out: the response to government requests for support is often fragmented, with multiple institutions sometimes duplicating efforts.

To address this, FAO and GAIN convened partners to design a coordinated mechanism, now known as the Agri‑Food Systems Accelerator – to streamline support, harmonize resources, and increase impact.

The Accelerator was officially launched in July 2025 in Addis Ababa on the sidelines of the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4) by UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina Mohammed.

A New Governance Structure Takes Shape

Last week’s Rome convening provided important clarity on how the Accelerator will operate. Its work will be guided by a Technical Committee (TC), supported by the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, whose Director will serve as Secretary and ex‑officio member.

The TC is co‑chaired by FAO and GAIN and will include a network of partners such as:

• UN agencies
• AGRA
• GIZ
• Netherlands Food Partnership
• AKADEMIYA 2063
• SUN Movement
• And others

For AGRA, Boaz Keizire, Director Policy and State Capability, will serve as the representative on the Technical Committee, with Cathy Kamau, Specialist-Food Systems as the alternate. Cathy will also serve as AGRA’s lead representative on the Operational Team, ensuring continuity and alignment in day‑to‑day engagements.

Supporting the First Wave of Country Requests

A major achievement during the Rome meeting was the agreement to respond to four country requests already received from Ghana, Uganda, Benin and Somalia.

Initial funding for this cohort has been provided by BMZ, enabling the Accelerator to begin delivering coordinated support. AGRA is engaged directly in Uganda and Somalia, building on ongoing work to develop systems‑driven investment plans and business cases alongside national governments.

AGRA’s Evolving Role in Food Systems Transformation

AGRA continues to play a central role in helping governments integrate agriculture and food systems into broader national agendas touching on climate action, health and youth empowerment

The Agri‑Food Systems Accelerator represents a natural extension of AGRA’s work within the Technical Cooperation Collaborative (TCC), an initiative that emerged from the COP28 Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action. That declaration, endorsed by more than 130 countries, commits nations to embed food systems into their climate strategies to reduce climate‑induced hunger, lower emissions, and enhance resilience.

Looking Ahead

The Rome mission marks an exciting step forward. As the Accelerator moves from concept to implementation, AGRA’s leadership and technical experience position it as a key contributor to shaping Africa’s food systems transformation. The collaborative model set by the Accelerator offers a promising pathway toward more coherent, impactful, and sustainable support for countries driving their food systems agendas.

By Aggie Asiimwe Konde

Starting this weekend, Dakar will once again become the capital of Africa’s food future. Leaders of government, farmers’ organizations, scientists, private sector executives, and global partners will gather in the Senegalese capital for the Africa Food Systems Forum, the continent’s largest stage for debating how to feed itself.

The gathering comes at a moment of extraordinary pressure. Food prices remain stubbornly high. Climate shocks are becoming harsher and more frequent. Millions of Africans still cannot afford a healthy meal each day. And yet, beneath the anxiety lies a quieter truth: there has been progress, uneven but undeniable, in the long struggle to transform Africa’s agriculture.

At the center of this contested terrain stands AGRA, the agency that was created in 2006 with the ambition of driving a smallholder-led agricultural transformation. Over the past 19 years, AGRA has become both a symbol of the continent’s quest to feed itself, and a lightning rod. For many, AGRA embodies the promise of an Africa that feeds itself. For others, it has become a convenient target, blamed for what remains unfinished and criticized by ideological opponents who see it as a bulwark against their unstated, obscure interests.

AGRA welcomes critical conversations on African agriculture. Questioning, challenging, and debating are essential to progress in a complex endeavor such as fighting hunger and malnutrition. But those discussions must be grounded in facts, context, and the lived realities of Africa’s 33 million smallholder farmers. Too often, critiques echo paternalism, suggesting that Africans lack the agency or capacity for self-determination, even when they are leading their own transformation.

A world turned upside down

To judge AGRA’s record fairly, one must step back from polemics and examine the evidence. The past five years have been among the most turbulent in modern agricultural history.

The Covid-19 pandemic shut down borders and markets. The war in Ukraine choked off vital flows of wheat, maize, and fertilizer. Climate extremes, from prolonged droughts in the Horn of Africa to devastating floods in West Africa, destroyed harvests. These shocks have pushed food prices to heights unseen in decades. Global food inflation peaked at 13 percent in 2023 and in low-income countries, many in Africa, it soared to 30 percent. For households already spending most of their income on food, such spikes were catastrophic.

The latest United Nations report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition (SOFI) confirms what Africans already know: hunger is not receding fast enough. Nearly six in 10 Africans live with some level of food insecurity, double the global average. More than one billion cannot afford a healthy diet, a number that has risen sharply since 2019. By 2030, the world is projected to have 512 million chronically undernourished people, almost 60 percent of them in Africa. Yet deeper insight tells us that the crisis today is not only about scarcity of food, it is also about affordability. Poverty, inequality, currency devaluations, and dependency on imports have turned every global shock into a household crisis.

Progress that is real, but unfinished

Against this backdrop, AGRA’s work looks much less like the failure that critics keep trumpeting and more like steady but incomplete progress. Since its founding, AGRA has supported the release of more than 700 improved crop varieties, many bred to resist drought, pests, and disease. It has worked with African governments to reform seed and fertilizer markets, slash tariffs, and harmonize regulations across regional blocs. These changes reduced transaction costs and expanded access to farm inputs. Partnerships with banks and agro-dealers have unlocked credit and extended distribution networks into villages once cut off from formal markets.

Independent evaluations bolster AGRA’s impact. Mathematica, a United States-based research firm, has been assessing AGRA’s 2023–2027 strategy, conducting baseline surveys in focus countries through mid-2025. In-person interviews with smallholders and entrepreneurs validate secondary data from Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other sources, aiming to measure yield increases and income growth.

Early findings are striking. In Nigeria, for example, some 63,897 metric tons of certified seeds were sold in 2024. More than 6,800 community-based advisors were trained, boosting improved seed adoption to 52 percent nationally. Private seed companies saw a 30 percent capacity increase, with small-pack distributions driving 40 percent sales growth.

In Kenya, AGRA’s Strengthening Regenerative Agriculture (STRAK) initiative in arid counties supported over 118,000 farmers. In Kitui, a semi-arid district in South Eastern Kenya, every shilling invested returned more than five in benefits. Across the continent, 40 percent of targeted farmers adopted nutrient-dense or climate-smart varieties, backed by USD2.47 million in grants. Kenya has emerged as a leader, integrating regenerative practices into county plans to combat soil degradation.

The economic impacts are tangible too. In Ethiopia, 302,000 farmers accessed improved seed, while school feeding programs reached 385,000 learners with biofortified foods, improving nutrition. At the 2024 Africa Food Systems Forum, AGRA mobilized USD13 billion through government-led programs, underscoring the potential of coordinated investment.

In policy reform, AGRA has supported national seed investment plans in six countries and scaled the Seed Systems Assessment Tool (SeedSAT), housed in its Center of Excellence for Seed Systems in Africa (CESSA). This tool identifies systemic gaps and guides reform efforts.

None of this is abstract. In Rwanda, Ghana, and Ethiopia, farmers adopting AGRA-backed seed and fertilizer packages have doubled their yields. For a maize farmer moving from half a ton per hectare to two, that is the difference between subsistence and a marketable surplus, between scraping by and sending a child to school.

But none of this progress has silenced AGRA’s critics. They point to the persistence of hunger on the continent, ignoring the global context and misrepresenting what hunger in Africa has become. The FAO data is unequivocal: the real crisis is affordability, not production. Even where yields have risen, incomes have not kept pace with food prices. Millions remain unable to afford diverse, nutritious diets.

AGRA has itself evolved in recognition of these realities. It no longer measures success by yields alone. Its new strategy places equal emphasis on building functioning markets, expanding inclusive finance, strengthening climate resilience, and deliberately empowering women and youth. Productivity is the beginning, not the end. Without roads, storage, processing, and fair markets, bumper harvests will not translate into better lives.

The change is visible in stories across the continent. In northern Ghana, farmer cooperatives that once sold maize cheaply at the farm gate now pool their produce and negotiate better prices with millers. In Rwanda, women who once relied on informal savings groups now run input dealerships, supplying improved seed and fertilizer to whole communities. In Kenya, young entrepreneurs are building digital platforms that connect farmers to markets by mobile phone, cutting out layers of middlemen. These are not isolated miracles. They are the fruit of steady, often invisible work to change systems.

The unfinished business of transformation

None of this is to deny how far there is to go. Africa’s population is growing rapidly. Climate change is intensifying. Debt crises are choking government budgets. The world is badly off track to achieving zero hunger by 2030. But to dismiss AGRA as irrelevant, or to ignore the gains made, is to abandon evidence in favor of ideology. Hunger is the product of conflict, inequality, weak infrastructure, fragile governance, and global market volatility. No single institution could possibly solve it alone.

What AGRA has done is create the conditions under which progress becomes possible: better seeds, fairer policies, stronger markets, and empowered farmers. The challenge now is to scale that progress, deepen it, and sustain it against the tide of global shocks.

This is why the Dakar forum matters. It is a testing ground for whether Africa and its partners can move beyond cynicism to action. The stakes are not abstract. They are measured in families deciding whether to eat once or twice a day. They are measured in the dreams of young Africans deciding whether to stay on the land or join the urban jobless. They are measured in the dignity of households seeking not handouts but the means to thrive.

The choice before us

Ultimately, one thing should be clear. Africa’s agricultural transformation is not a myth. It is unfinished business. The farmers who have doubled their yields, the women who have become entrepreneurs, the youth who have turned technology into opportunity, are living proof that change is possible.

As the world gathers in Dakar, it must choose between cynicism and solidarity. Solidarity is, by far, what this moment demands. With less than five years to 2030, there is no time left for endless arguments about ideology. The continent’s farmers have shown that with the right support they can drive their own transformation. The question is whether governments, donors, and partners will have the courage to finish the job.

Africa’s agricultural transformation is not dead. It is alive, and growing. And in the streets of Dakar, amid debate and decision, the seeds of its future will be sown again.

Ms Konde is the Director Communications, Innovations, External Engagements and Advocacy at AGRA – an African-led organization focused on putting farmers at the centre of the continent’s growing economy.

By Alice Ruhweza

I am back in Nairobi after spending a week at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF) in Dakar.  I can still feel Dakar’s soundtrack humming in my ears. Part Afrobeats, part market-day hustle, part start-up pitches. This year’s AFSF wasn’t your run-of-the-mill conference; it was a live studio session where farmers, scientists, bankers, youths, and ministers laid down tracks together. And the title of the soundtrack is “agriculture is not a solitary struggle. It is a thriving, modern business with real deal flow, real technology, real jobs, and real joy.”

You could feel the joy in the Youth Dome, which fizzed like a tech festival with demo pods, rapid-fire pitches, mentorship corners, and that buzzing optimism one only gets when young people believe the future is in their hands. These young people were not just talking apps; they were building businesses from climate-smart farming to digital finance to AI tools that answer farmers’ questions in their own languages. This last one really stayed with me: a farmer snaps a photo, records a voice note, and gets advice back in Wolof. (One of the main local languages in Senegal). This is what dignity looks like in digital form. Technology that meets people where they are and lifts them up.

This year the exhibition floor gave livestock its proper spotlight. From fodder to dairy to poultry and beef, and some very colorful birds, the conversations the booths, and one very powerful all-female panel put livestock at the center of value chains that feed families, power small industries, and open export markets. When Uganda talked beef and dairy, Somalia put fodder on the table, and Ghana ran the numbers on poultry, one could see how farmers move from surviving to thriving when the entire value chain is connected.

And because business needs capital, countries put on their best suits on and went to the “Deal Room”. Senegal, Liberia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Somalia pitched investment-ready ventures collectively aiming to mobilize investments in agrifood systems worth over USD $6 billion. This is not wishful thinking; this is pipeline. Investors are always looking for bankable and scalable projects and they saw both.

Which brings me to a theme I care about deeply: insurance for women-led businesses. Missing rains, droughts, floods, price shocks, illness, one bad week can undo a year’s work.  One of the most exciting panels I attended was the one convened by AGRA to discuss women and finance. The panelists made a strong case for providing insurance to financial institutions so that they can be incentivized to lend to women owned businesses. The financing gap is still huge, around USD10 billion by recent estimates, but countries from Senegal to Ethiopia are proving that smart public policy can unlock private insurance cover and make credit cheaper and accessible down the line. Technical assistance for women-led SMEs was also a key topic of discussion. Suffice to say that these businesses must be supported to be investor-ready, including having proper records that would help them attract the kind of patient capital needed to get them to scale.

AGRA launched the Africa Food Systems Report 2025, an evolution of the long-running Africa Agriculture Status Report. Under the theme “Drivers of Change and Innovation for Food Systems in Africa”, the report marks a shift from tracking agriculture alone to taking stock of the entire food system, from production and trade to governance, nutrition, climate, and markets. The picture remains uneven, with hunger continuing to rise. The report argues that the future hinges on how countries harness innovation and change drivers, from smarter spatial planning and blended finance to stronger institutions and inclusive governance. It gives examples of how local processing can turn harvest surpluses into jobs and increased incomes, how trade corridors can connect food baskets across the continent, and how nutrition, climate resilience, and markets are inseparable in building food security. Finally, it argues, persuasively, that siloed solutions won’t cut it anymore. We need integrated approaches, backed by finance, to scale what works.

The forum was not just about events and networking. We also recognised innovators who are driving agrifood system transformation in Africa.

The Women Agripreneurs of the Year Award (WAYA) Grand Prize went to Mathildah Amollo of Kenya, whose company, Greatlakes Feeds Ltd, is rewriting the story of livestock nutrition. She was joined by a constellation of excellent innovators in their own right: Juliet Kakwerre Tumusiime (Uganda), Julienne Olawolé Agossadou (Benin), Roberta Edu-Oyedokun (Nigeria), Joyce Waithira Rugano (Kenya), and Onicca Sibanyona (South Africa), each of them proof that women’s innovation is rewriting Africa’s food future.

The Africa Food Prize (AFP), the continent’s preeminent recognition of individuals or institutions that are reshaping Africa’s food systems, was awarded to two remarkable scientists whose work is both a cultural correction and a scientific breakthrough. Professor Mary Abukutsa-Onyango from Kenya was recognized for her advocacy for indigenous crops and improved nutrition, while Dr. Mercy Diebiru-Ojo from Nigeria received recognition for her work on accelerating the production of disease-free planting materials for cassava and yam.

Significantly, there were concrete signals for investors. The UK announced a GBP 5 million partnership with AGRA to strengthen intra-Africa trade, a nod to the opportunity that sits in our fields and factories if we can connect them to global markets.

AGRA unveiled a package of partnerships designed to unlock private capital including Africa100,  a catalytic initiative launched in partnership with the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), to catalyse support to the top 100 often-overlooked small and medium sized enterprises, (the “hidden middle”), that link farmers to markets, create rural jobs, and drive resilience. Other partnerships announced include the Southern Africa Poultry Initiative – transforming Poultry for Nutrition and Jobs, Poultry Feed Innovation Grand Challenge; and platforms intended to elevate the voices of Africa’s youth, partnerships with Global Citizen and Farm Radio, and the inaugural Africa Media Fellowship Award, intended to nurture the next generation of storytellers.

None of this happens at scale without policy to match the endeavor. That is why my call to action is for Governments, Private sector, Development Partners and all key stakeholders to double down on domesticating the CAADP Kampala Declaration; and putting in place the capacity, institutions and finance to achieve the CAADP targets which include: mobilizing USD100 billion, increasing agrifood output by 45 percent, cutting post-harvest losses in half, and tripling intra-African agri-trade by 2035. AGRA will continue to catalyse, facilitate, orchestrate and galvanise the entire ecosystem to work with Governments to translate these targets into bankable projects that deliver impact for small holder farmers from farm gate, to border post.

A big shout out to the hosts. Senegal rolled out their renowned “Teranga hospitality” with a side of grit. Honorable Mabouba Diagne, Senegal’s Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Livestock took up office in February close to the same time I was joining AGRA as President. He and I made a silent pact that this AFSF would be our joint delivery. His team and the AFSF Secretariat put in 17-hour days to make sure this happened. That energy mirrored the whole week: roughly 5,600 participants from 106 countries, 149 exhibitors all pulling in the same direction. When a country works that hard to convene the continent, you leave with more than contacts; you leave with conviction.

The forum closed with a line I loved from Minister Diagne: he said the two accelerators for Africa are youth and technology. He is right. I would add a third accelerator that we saw everywhere in Dakar: belief. Belief that our food systems can feed, employ, and enrich; belief that a farmer’s photo and voice note can summon world-class agronomy advice; belief that women enterprises deserve to be insured and indemnified from risks; and belief that policy can keep pace with the hustle on our streets.

Youth aren’t waiting to be invited; they are building. Women aren’t asking for permission; they’re winning awards, running enterprises. Governments aren’t just issuing communiqués; they are pitching to investors and some are putting real money into biofortified school meals that not only boost attendance but also improve nutrition. This is what it looks like when agriculture stops being treated as charity and shows up on the balance sheet as a business.

Now, our task is to keep composing the track we started in Dakar, tighten the rhythm of policy, turn up the volume on investment, and let youth and women carry the chorus. If we do this, agriculture will not only feed Africa. It will power the world.

“Disability did not stop me. It was the YEFFA spark that lit up my field, my business and my life.” — Rehema Rashid, Singida, Tanzania

The early morning in Kaselya village, Iramba District, begins with a golden shimmer. The first light catches on thousands of sunflower heads swaying gently in the breeze. The air carries the earthy scent of soil warmed by the sun, and somewhere among the rows, a determined figure moves with practiced ease.

Her name is Rehema Rashid, and for as long as she can remember, life has been a mix of beauty and burden. Born with albinism in rural Tanzania, she has learned to live in two worlds at once, one filled with the dazzling brightness of the sunflowers she loves, and another shadowed by stigma, limited opportunities, and physical vulnerability under the relentless equatorial sun.

Before the Spark

Years ago, her farm looked different. The one-acre plot was her only source of food and income, but the harvests were meager. “I used to get only three bags of sunflower a season,” she says, her voice steady but her eyes reflecting the memory of hard years. Selling them brought in around TZS 130,000 (about USD 50) barely enough to put food on the table.

The struggle was not just financial. Every farming season felt like a battle against unpredictable weather, pests, and the constant worry of how to pay school fees for her children. The work was backbreaking, and at the end of it, there was little to show.

The Turning Point

Everything began to change when she joined the Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Food and Agriculture (YEFFA) program.

She learned and trained on how to select the right seeds, prepare the soil for maximum yield, and handle her harvest to reduce losses. She received quality agricultural inputs, including improved sunflower seeds that could thrive even in a tough season.

That year, when the rains came and the fields came alive, Rehema worked differently. She spaced her plants carefully, managed weeds before they took over, and applied her new post-harvest handling skills. By harvest time, she stood in awe: 12 heavy bags of sunflower seeds four times more than before.

 Adding Value, Multiplying Gains

For most farmers in her village, the next step would be selling the seeds raw to middlemen. But YEFFA had taught her another way on value addition. She began processing her own sunflower oil and using the byproduct, mashudu, as animal feed.

This shift changed everything. After paying her workers and covering processing costs, she now makes no less than TZS 260,000 (around USD 96) per harvest. It’s not just the numbers that make her proud but it’s the independence. “You can see the change in my life,” she says with a laugh. “Even my skin glows now — I can afford the good and expensive skin products!”

From Farmer to Leader

Agriculture for Rehema is no longer just survival, it’s business. She employs more than six casual workers, creating livelihoods for others. And she has a bigger dream: together with other YEFFA beneficiaries, she is leading plans for a community-owned sunflower oil factory in Kaselya. The goal? Keep more of the profits in the village, create more jobs, and ensure the value chain benefits the people who grow the crops.

Her role as a leader is as important to her as the crops she grows. “When we succeed as a group, the whole village wins,” she says. She envisions a future where no young person in Kaselya has to leave for the city just to find work.

A Life Transformed, Attending the Africa Food Systems Summit 2025 (AFSS25)

Rehema’s journey is more than an agricultural success story; it’s proof of what can happen when opportunity meets determination. She has turned what some saw as a limitation into a source of strength. She is set to showcase, and being one of the panelists on AFSS25 – Dakar, Senegal, she will bless the global leaders on what transformation looks like.

“Disability did not stop me. It was the YEFFA spark that lit up my field, my business and my life.”

Beyond farming, Rehema has now branched into another business tailoring. In the evenings, the gentle hum of her sewing machine fills her home as she transforms vibrant fabrics into dresses, school uniforms, and headscarves. This side venture not only adds to her income but also allows her to teach sewing skills to other women in her community, further spreading the spirit of self-reliance that YEFFA ignited in her

Today, the sunflowers in Kaselya do more than feed families, they tell a story of resilience, leadership, and a woman whose glow comes from both the sun and the pride of building a future on her own terms.

The midday sun beats down on the red earth of Mgaza village, Katerero in Bukoba Tanzania. In the middle of the field, Allen Fedrick works with steady hands, his fingers pressing soil. Beside him, his wife moves in rhythm, her hoe slicing the ground with quiet determination. To an outsider, this is just another farming couple tending their crops but the journey that brought Allen here is one of extraordinary grit and reinvention.

A few years ago, Allen’s life took a devastating turn. A horrific accident left him with severe injuries and ultimately cost him his leg after a very bad road accident. The doctors told him amputation was the only option. “When they said they had to remove my leg, it felt like my whole future had been cut away too,” Allen recalls. “For a while, I didn’t know where to begin again.”

But quitting was never in Allen’s nature. After months of recovery, he decided to restart life with what he had – his hands, his determination, and his will to survive. He began small, selling pineapples by the roadside, learning the market and building relationships with customers.

It was during this time that Allen crossed paths with the YEFFA program under AGRA—an initiative aimed at empowering youth in agriculture. The program trained him in modern farming methods, provided quality seedlings, market linkage and equipped him with essential farming inputs. For Allen, this was more than training, it was a second chance.

Armed with new skills, he transitioned from a simple pineapple vendor to a grower and distributor. He now cultivates his own pineapples and, thanks to the transport link between Kagera and Mwanza, he regularly sends his produce to Mwanza. This isn’t about massive cargo it’s just small but he makes the journey about three times a month, ensuring that his pineapples reach markets while they’re still fresh.

On average, each trip yields him a net profit of 100,000 to 200,000 Tanzanian shillings after paying workers and covering transport. In a good month, that amounts to roughly 300,000 shillings from Mwanza sales alone, plus an extra 10,000 shillings daily from local sales in his own community.

Allen’s progress has been more than financial. Within a short period, he has married, built his own home, and established a respected name in his village. While he hires laborers for heavy tasks, he still chooses to work on the farm himself, moving along the rows with the help of a crutch. His presence in the field sends a message that disability does not mean inability.

“People think that when you have a disability, your life slows down or you are supposed to start begging,” Allen says, brushing dust from his palms. “For me, it pushed me to move faster towards my dreams.”

Allen’s has moved from point zero to one point, his story is more than a tale of survival, it is a blueprint for turning hardship into opportunity. With the right training, resources, and unwavering willpower, he has transformed a moment of deep loss into a life of growth, purpose, and abundance. In every pineapple he sells, there is a piece of his resilience and a reminder that no obstacle is too great to overcome.

As global leaders, innovators, and changemakers converge in Dakar September for the Africa Food Systems Summit 2025 (AFSS25), Rwanda’s Niyitanga Grace will be among 17 youth agri-preneurs chosen to showcase how young Africans are transforming agriculture from the ground up. Her story—rooted in resilience, innovation, and purpose—is not just a personal success; it’s a beacon for the continent’s agricultural future.

When Niyitanga Grace stepped off the bus in the rural fields of Nzige Sector, Rwamagana District in early 2023, she wasn’t just leaving behind the bright lights of Kigali, Rwanda’s capital—she was stepping into a bold new chapter. With just 1.5 million Rwandan francs (about $1,000 USD) and a vision seeded by a visit to a friend’s thriving farm, she decided to pursue agriculture full time.

“I tried different businesses in Kigali, but nothing seemed to work,” she recalls. “The day I visited my friend’s farm, I saw something I had never seen before—potential, growth, life. That was the turning point.”

Armed with a passion for building something meaningful and a determination to succeed, Grace moved to Rwamagana and began farming on rented land, benefiting from an irrigation scheme developed by the government in collaboration with the SAIP (Sustainable Agricultural Intensification Project). The results were immediate—and transformational.

A Seed of Opportunity that Sprouted Success

Her first season’s investment of 1.5 million RWF yielded a staggering 7 million RWF. Encouraged by this breakthrough, she reinvested her earnings to acquire her own land and shift from traditional open-field farming to greenhouse agriculture—a climate-resilient solution offering higher yields, quality produce, and year-round production.

Her first greenhouse alone generated 8 million RWF per season. Today, she owns four greenhouses, each built with a cost-effective combination of local and imported materials—cutting construction costs from 20 million to 5 million RWF per unit.

“I realized that relying only on rain-fed farming was limiting,” she says. “Greenhouses gave me consistency, quality, and the ability to control my environment. That’s how I started scaling.”

Chili Peppers, Market Savvy, and a Growing Enterprise

Grace’s flagship crop is chili peppers—a lucrative export product with growing demand across Africa and beyond. Through training and mentorship provided by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), she was equipped with critical skills in value chain development, market research, and marketing strategy.

“AGRA didn’t just teach me how to grow chili—they taught me how to understand markets and operate like a businesswoman,” she says.

She has since diversified into tomatoes, bell peppers, and green beans, ensuring steady supply for both local and regional markets. Her business, now valued at over 30 million RWF, is a testament to how quickly a small idea can grow with the right support.

A Champion for Youth in Agribusiness

Beyond her own success, Grace has become a mentor and role model for others. As an active member of the Rwanda Youth in Agribusiness Forum (RYAF), she represents greenhouse farmers at national platforms and works to mobilize young people into agriculture.

“I always tell young people: Agriculture is not a last resort—it’s a first-class opportunity,” she says. “With the right mindset and tools, it can be more profitable than you ever imagined.”

So far, she has helped friends launch farms and created jobs for young people in her community, contributing directly to youth employment and rural economic empowerment.

Looking Ahead: A Vision That Reaches Across Borders

Now preparing to represent Rwanda at Africa Food Systems Summit 2025, Grace sees the event as a powerful platform to connect with fellow young innovators and international partners.

“I’m eager to share my journey—but more importantly, to learn from others,” she says. “Africa is full of young farmers doing amazing things. If we join forces, we can transform the continent’s food systems. “

Her future plans include:

• Acquiring more farmland
• Expanding greenhouse infrastructure
• Launching chili value-addition units (e.g., sauces and powders)
• Tapping into export markets and strengthening brand presence

Why Investors and Donors Should Take Note

Grace’s story is not just inspiring—it’s investable. She represents the kind of climate-smart, youth-led agricultural enterprise that can drive Africa’s food security, employment, and economic transformation. With strategic investment and support, her model can be scaled across regions, benefiting more farmers, creating jobs, and boosting local economies.

She is currently open to partnerships that can support:

• Expansion of greenhouse farming systems
• Establishment of chili processing and packaging facilities
• Access to regional and international markets
• Training programs for youth and women in modern agribusiness

A Final Word from the Farm

Standing beside rows of vibrant chili plants under the morning sun, she reflects on the road she’s traveled.

“My journey started with failure. But I turned it into fuel,” she says. “Today, I farm with purpose—not just for profit, but to feed, employ, and inspire.”

Bekelech’s Journey and the Future of Women Farmers

 In the quiet highlands of Darga Kebele, deep in Kembata Zone, in the Central Ethiopia Regional State, Wro Bekelech Anitu has worked her land with enduring strength and persistent hope. A widow and mother of seven, she has long cultivated her two hectares not for profit, but for survival. For years, her carefully gathered harvests were lost to fire, consumed by rodents, or sold hastily at low prices to meet urgent household needs.

But on 24 June 2025, Bekelech stood before a national audience at Addis Ababa’s Skylight Hotel—honored as a model farmer and recognized as the voice of a new chapter in Ethiopia’s agricultural transformation. She was celebrated at the “She Stores – She Gains” workshop, a national platform promoting the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) as a tool to unlock finance, improve storage, and empower smallholder women farmers across the country.

Through the WRS, Bekelech now stores her grain in a certified warehouse, preserves its market value, and accesses short-term credit using her harvest as collateral—a financial mechanism she once believed was never meant for someone like her.

“Now I can store my harvest. I can wait. I sell when prices are fair. And I have hope again,” she shared. “I now have a TIN number, a land certificate, and all the documents banks ask for. But still—there are long procedures, delays, and too many steps. We do everything we’re told, but the system isn’t moving fast enough for women like me.”

Her story drew heartfelt applause—not only for its honesty, but for what it symbolized. Bekelech’s journey embodies the rationale behind Ethiopia’s scale-up of the WRS, in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration (MoTRI), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and AGRA: to modernize rural markets, improve livelihoods, and close the gender gap in agricultural finance.

At the event, Mr Tarekegne Shibeshi, Head of Market Infrastructure and Marketing Facility Desk at MoTRI, emphasized the system’s alignment with Ethiopia’s Ten-Year Development Plan, which aims to strengthen value chains and drive inclusive rural growth.

“Over 2.2 billion Birr in loans have already been accessed through the WRS by actors across the agricultural value chain,” he stated. “This is not just a financing tool for women—it’s a pathway to economic prosperity, especially for women whose labor has long been undervalued.”

Yet Bekelech remains an exception. Today, few WRS loan recipients are women. The barriers they face are systemic and deeply embedded—rooted in restrictive gender norms, institutional blind spots, and structural exclusion.

In many communities, social norms often constrain women’s financial decision-making power. Banking systems continue to favor conventional, asset-heavy collateral requirements—rendering women ineligible due to limited access to immovable assets. Even when eligible, women face gaps in awareness, outreach, and financial services that rarely communicate through channels accessible to them.

“No one explained that I could use my crops as collateral,” Bekelech said. “No one came—until recently. We only heard about it through neighbors.”

There is also a persistent capacity gap. Most women lack training in financial literacy, loan negotiation, and business planning—skills essential to navigating the WRS, managing repayment timelines, and building long-term creditworthiness. Even with documentation and eligibility, many lack proximity, confidence, or timely support.

Dr Yihenew Zewdie, AGRA Ethiopia Country Director, emphasized that systems must go beyond providing access—they must be intentionally redesigned to include those long left out.

“This system puts real economic power into the hands of producers,” he said. “But if it’s to work for women, our banks, cooperatives, and extension agents must unlearn the rules that kept women out for so long.”

As the workshop concluded, Mrs Meskerem Bahiru, Chief Executive Officer of Export Promotion and Market Facility at MoTRI, reinforced the government’s commitment to making the system work for all.

“This initiative is part of Ethiopia’s Ten-Year Development Plan—and we will implement it with synergy,” she affirmed. “Government, partners, cooperatives, and financial institutions must work together so that farmers like Wro. Bekelech are no longer the exception, but the norm.”

If Ethiopia’s Warehouse Receipt System is to fulfill its promise, it must do more than modernize infrastructure—it must unlock national productivity. Reaching rural women farmers is not merely a matter of equity; it is an economic necessity. When women gain secure access to certified storage and tailored finance, the impact is measurable: reduced post-harvest losses, improved price realization, greater resilience, and stronger participation in formal markets. Enabling women to store, plan, and trade effectively increases household incomes, stabilizes rural economies, and drives inclusive GDP growth.

This is not social spending—it is a high-return investment in Ethiopia’s economic transformation.

She stores.

She gains.

And through her, Ethiopia grows.