Why Africa’s food system champions must be celebrated 

As the chairman of the nominating committee for the African Food Prize (AFP), an initiative that rewards the continent’s food systems champions, I have been honoured to interact with some of the most brilliant minds in Africa – people and organizations working to derive solutions for the continent’s most complex food system challenges.

Most recently, we awarded the Pan-African Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) as the 2023 AFP winner, recognizing their exceptional leadership in the development of over 650 bean varieties that improve farm productivity profitability for over 37 million smallholder farmers. These new bean varieties are also consumed by at least 300 million people, significantly improving the continent’s nutrition, health, and food security.

I have also had visibility of the work of former laureates, recognizing but a few: Dr Emma Naluyima, a Ugandan farmer who converted her one-acre farm into a thriving integrated farming enterprise that generates over US $100,000 every year; Professor Ruth Oniang’o, a leading academician and expert in nutrition; Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank and Dr Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA.

As I recognize the unwavering contribution of these stellar individuals and organizations, and many others, I am proud to realize that their enterprise has been greatly boosted following the awards. Speaking to Dr Naluyima, for example, we heard that after the recognition, she received a notable spike in farm visits by providing an opportunity to share her extensive experience in sustainable intensification with thousands of farmers from as far as West Africa and Germany.

This is in addition to notable attention to benefits for her community, which has since the award gained improved infrastructure, including tarmacked roads. We have also recently engaged with PABRA, who have reported receiving great attention from donors and other partners after the AFP victory. They are now motivated to extend their strategy beyond beans to other crops. This is in addition to establishing the PABRA Academy which is training youth on agricultural innovation and entrepreneurship.

Beyond institutional benefits, the Africa Food Prize has played an important role in drawing attention to critical innovations for responding to emerging shocks while introducing opportunities for bridging the gaps in access to finance and markets. Both are critical requirements for food systems transformation.

The recognition of innovators across diverse industries and engagements has also served to inspire many young people to innovate solutions for complex challenges. For instance, many of us were made only aware of the exploits of NASA scientist, Dr Catherine Nakalembe, in crop mapping using remote sensing technologies after her 2020 AFP recognition. The same is the case for Dr Andre Bationo’s micro-dosing fertilizer technologies, which have increased yields by up to 100 percent in Western Africa. Such innovations as Bationo’s are integral in actualizing some of the continent’s recent commitments, including those outlined in the Nairobi Declaration on Fertilizer and Soil Health.

That brings us to this year’s Africa Food Prize. Once again, at the Africa Food Systems (AFS) Forum, we shall be awarding new food system champions, and I cannot hide my eagerness to see who will take home the prize. The nominating committee is already reviewing hundreds of applications, and if I say so myself, the quality of submissions this year has been exceptional. Indeed, we are witnessing solutions to multiple complex problems. These solutions, if addressed through collaboration amongst different stakeholders including academia and the private sector, portend great benefits for Africa’s food systems transformation.

At this year’s AFS Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, attendees will engage with past and present AFP Laureates and have a chance to add their voices to Africa’s food system transformation agenda.

This year, conversations and activities at the Forum will revolve around climate change and digital innovations, with a leaning towards the leadership of Africa’s youth. This is a timely initiative because we are now at a crossroads, where, as Africa’s leaders and citizenry, we must commit to creating an enabling environment for the continent’s young people, who now number in the hundreds of millions. We are also duty-bound to address the worsening impact of climate change, a new challenge for us but a challenge that must be resolved nonetheless. All these can be achieved through supportive policies, investments in research and the commitment of financial and technical resources. I am certain that by the time we leave Kigali, we will have reached multiple and impactful resolutions for the benefit of current and future generations.

The Author is the former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, and chair of the Africa Food Prize committee.