How Wasafiri helped align partners to move Grow Africa from vision to implementation and collective momentum
Are you an intermediary organisation holding relationships that don’t neatly align?
Translating between languages that don’t quite match? Are you expected to deliver certainty in situations defined by uncertainty and be accountable to multiple worlds at once, such as funders, communities, institutions, and partners, all with different incentives, timelines and definitions of success?
If this sounds like you, then this recent paper published by Climate KIC and supported by Wasafiri is for you. The paper is the output of a Global Community of Practice of intermediary organisations, all working in the space of climate adaptation and resilience, but speaks to the tensions intermediary organisations everywhere navigate.
https://wasafirihub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ChatGPT-Image-Apr-24-2026-11_58_56-AM.png10241536Kate Simpsonhttp://u05.88f.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Wasafiri-LOGO-1.pngKate Simpson2026-04-24 14:38:302026-04-24 14:42:26New publication: our recent work with Climate KIC on intermediaries, funding and systems change
In our earlier article, Making School Feeding work through MSEs and Smallholder Farmers, we drew on our work in Kibera, Korogocho and Mukuru informal settlements in Nairobi to show how micro and small enterprises support school feeding supply chains in low-income urban communities. In the article below, originally published in Business Daily, Rikki Agudah makes the broader case for why local enterprises should be central to school feeding systems.
Kenya’s ambition to provide nutritious, locally sourced meals to millions of learners through the National Home Grown School Meals Programme is bold and necessary. With close to three million children reached in 2025 and a longer-term goal of ten million by 2030, the scale of the promise is clear. National targets, however, tell only part of the story. The more difficult question is delivery, particularly in low-income urban settlements where the need is acute, and systems are fragile.
The Urban Informal Schools Gap
Nairobi’s informal, low-income settlements are dominated by informal schools, which account for 70% of school-going children in the city and still remain beyond the reach of initiatives such as Nairobi City County’s Dishi na County program, which currently serves public schools.
Charitable and donor-funded interventions have attempted to fill this gap, but these are often short-term and focused on specific nutrition or education outcomes, rather than long-term delivery systems. Mainstream models tend to default to outsourcing: large caterers, centralized procurement and external logistics. While on paper this appears efficient, in practice it can weaken local ownership and detach feeding programmes from the communities they are meant to serve.
A Community-Rooted Alternative
Another approach is taking shape, quieter, less visible in policy headlines, yet firmly rooted in local communities. In this model, delivery is anchored in organised local enterprises accountable to the very families whose children rely on the meals. Schools do not just purchase food; they anchor local food economies.
The distinction matters. In informal settlements, markets operate as much on reputation as on paperwork. A vegetable trader, miller, transporter or cook survives because her neighbours trust her. When school feeding is delivered by enterprises owned and operated within the settlement, programmes earn something more durable than a contract: they earn trust.
Here, parents are not only recipients. They are also farmers, traders and suppliers. If food quality drops, feedback is immediate. If delivery falters, accountability is close at hand. Trust becomes the underlying guarantee for food safety and quality long before formal inspection systems intervene.
But trust alone is not enough. Organisation strengthens it.
Across Kibra, Korogocho and Mukuru, agrifood traders and smallholder farmers have begun forming legally registered Local Business Associations. These associations help coordinate supply, improve post-harvest handling, and collectively engage with schools. Instead of dozens of fragmented suppliers competing informally, organized networks are able to meet agreed standards and deliver with greater reliability.
In practice, this coordination has changed how supply flows. In Mukuru kwa Reuben, agrifood traders, who previously operated in isolation, are now pooling resources under the banner of Mukuru Agribusiness Association to provide hot meals to informal schools in their vicinity. Through their recently established community kitchen, the association is introducing menus using diverse and nutritious foods sourced from local producers. The initiative is moving towards aligning school demand with farmer production cycles, while incorporating basic handling standards to ensure quality and accountability. For informal schools, this redirects their focus on education outcomes and minimizes children’s exposure to highly processed, unhealthy snack meals.
This reflects a growing recognition in School Feeding Program policy conversations: that strengthening farmer organizations and linking them with urban micro and small enterprises is not peripheral to school feeding, but central to making it work at scale.
Beyond the Meal: Economic Multipliers
When delivery is embedded in organized local enterprises, the benefits extend beyond the meal itself. Money circulates locally. A school pays a trader, who pays a miller, who sources from a farmer, and income returns to households through rent, school fees and everyday purchases. Feeding budgets begin to function as economic multipliers rather than isolated expenditures.
At a time when Kenya is grappling with youth unemployment, urban poverty and food price volatility, it is worth asking whether the success of school feeding should be measured only in cost per plate, or also in the resilience it builds within our communities.
Of course, questions remain about standards and scale. Can locally-rooted enterprises consistently meet nutrition and food safety requirements?
The experience of Kenya’s small-holder farmers in horticulture export supply chains suggests they can, particularly when supported by shared systems where localized initiatives such as the community kitchens and supplier groups operate under established regulatory guidelines for hygiene, nutrition and operations. Training and quality assurance are structured; ownership and relationships remain local.
While still in its infancy, the approach taken by Mukuru Agribusiness Association is already growing business capacity and creating learning opportunities for its members in food safety, procurement and basic enterprise management, which are skills that will serve them beyond the school gates.
None of these demands sweeping reform. It requires thoughtful choices about who is invited into delivery systems and how those systems are structured within local government planning processes and programs, such as county integrated development plans and through inclusive multi-stakeholder platforms such as Nairobi City County’s Food Liaison Advisory Group (FLAG) committee. Mapping local enterprises, strengthening their associations and embedding them into county procurement processes are not radical shifts and, over time, they may prove to be transformative.
School Feeding Is About Systems
School feeding will always be about children. But it is also about systems: who supplies food, who earns income, who develops skills, and who is trusted to deliver when shocks come. If Kenya’s school feeding ambitions are to endure, expanding not only in reach but also in impact, the future may lie less in distant suppliers and more in organized enterprises rooted in the communities they serve. School feeding works best when the people who cook the food are also the people who care most about its impact.
https://wasafirihub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/pexels-soft__work__-1913651507-31212033.jpg12801920Rikki Agudahhttp://u05.88f.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Wasafiri-LOGO-1.pngRikki Agudah2026-03-31 23:05:302026-03-31 23:20:29Local enterprises are the future of school feeding initiatives
How Wasafiri helped align partners to move Grow Africa from vision to implementation and collective momentum
Many multi-stakeholder initiatives stall not because ambition is lacking, but because alignment never fully happens.
The vision is strong. The partners are credible. Political will exists. And yet progress moves far more slowly than expected.
More often than not, the challenge is alignment.
When the World Economic Forum and partners shaped Grow Africa, the ambition was clear: to strengthen collaboration and mobilise investment in African agriculture. Governments, businesses and development actors were engaged. Energy was present.
But ambition alone is not enough to move a system.
In complex environments, actors operate with different incentives, accountabilities and time horizons. Without deliberate alignment, even committed partners can pull in parallel rather than in concert. This is a familiar pattern in complex initiatives. Partners agree on the destination, but struggle to agree on priorities, sequencing, and how their efforts fit together in practice.
Our role was to help partners move from shared aspiration to clearer direction and coordinated action. This meant creating space for honest conversations about roles, priorities and decision-making. It meant looking at the system as a whole — where influence sat, where friction lay, and which shifts could unlock progress.
Rather than adding another layer of strategy, the emphasis was on strengthening the collective ability to decide and act together, and to adapt as conditions changed. This is where our Systemcraft approach became important.
Rather than focusing only on plans or individual actors, Systemcraft helped us look at the incentives, relationships, power dynamics and decision-making structures that shape how change actually happens. By helping partners surface these dynamics together, the process created shared clarity on priorities, roles, and points of leverage.
In practice, this helped partners see how their individual efforts connected to a wider agenda, where coordination was needed, and what practical pathways could move the platform forward. The focus was not simply on designing a strategy, but on strengthening the system’s capacity to align, decide and act collectively.
Over time, the platform reported clearer priorities and stronger coordination across participating actors. Conversations shifted from broad aspiration to practical next steps. Participants were better able to see how their contributions connected to a shared agenda, reducing duplication and strengthening confidence in the platform’s direction.
Grow Africa helped catalyse more than US $10 billion in private-sector investment commitments in African agriculture, with over US $1.8 billion implemented1. Public reporting also indicates these investments reached more than 8.6 million smallholder farmers and created around 58,000 jobs.2
While no single intervention can claim sole credit in a system of this scale, the experience reinforced a core insight: coordinated action is what enables ambition to translate into credible outcomes. For leaders responsible for turning ambition into movement, this capability can be the difference between activity and traction.
Facilitating Action Planning for Systems Change is one of the ways we support partners working on complex challenges. If you would like to explore how this could strengthen your own initiative, please reach out to Ian Randall.
In the grand scheme of food systems, micro and small micro enterprises (MSEs) are often overlooked as a contributor to sustainable change and seen more as a benefactor of actions of other stakeholders in the food supply chain.
Policymakers and large institutions focus on industrial-scale suppliers, favoring efficiency over inclusivity. But in Africa’s school feeding programs, MSEs are not just a convenience – they are indispensable.
Every day across the Kenyan landscape, millions of children rely on school meals to get the nutrition they need to learn and grow. The success of these programs is tied to their ability to source food sustainably, affordably, and reliably. That is where MSEs come in.
Embedded in local economies, these businesses provide a variety of food products at the right pricing point and accessible for consumers. These MSEs will increasingly be an essential link between smallholder farmers and schools, ensuring that food is not just available, but that it is also healthy, culturally relevant and nutritionally appropriate.
The formal inclusion of MSEs in School Feeding is therefore essential for a complete school feeding cycle.
MSEs: The lifeline of local food systems
Within the communities in Kibera, Korogocho and Mukuru kwa Reuben, MSEs that we have interacted with are integral, easily dominating the food supply landscape in these urban areas, be they selling food products in formal stalls and eateries, hawking, or roadside selling.
While many sell a variety of processed and cooked food products, they also supply households with fresh produce, grains, and staples, exactly the same commodities required for school meals.
What we are learning is that when school feeding programs integrate these businesses into their supply chains, they create a ripple effect that strengthens local economies.
The benefits are tangible: finance circulates within communities, household incomes improve, and economic stability increases. School feeding then ceases to be a standalone intervention; it becomes an economic driver.
Sylvia and Steve Muthi
Take Sylvia Kuria, an organic farmer and activist working with Fellows from the African Food Fellowship. Together, they have collaborated with the Mukuru Agribusiness Association to connect smallholder organic farmers to schools in informal settlements.
Through this collaboration, they identified a local school where children were undernourished and organised a reliable supply of organic, healthy produce from nearby farmers. As a result, the school now provides two nutritious meals a day, improving children’s diets while creating a stable market for local producers.
Sylvia with Dorice Bosibori, chair of the Mukuru Agribusiness Association, and Becca Katz from Quest Nutrition
In turn, the steady demand is allowing Sylvia to train local farmers to better supply these schools, including using space-efficient approaches such as vertical farming, sack gardening, and container-based growing.
Sylvia is now looking for partners who share the view that working through MSEs can strengthen local economies, and who can support the scaling of this approach to reach more schools.
School meal
But the impact goes beyond economics. Unlike large-scale suppliers, MSEs are highly adaptable. They can respond quickly to changes in food availability caused by climate shocks or logistical challenges, shifting between supply sources and food types as needed.
This flexibility helps schools continue feeding children even when supply chains are under strain. Over time, this local resilience also supports the wider acceptance of healthy, sustainable foods by expanding the range of foods children eat at school and, in turn, what becomes familiar and accepted within their communities.
The procurement paradox: Why MSEs struggle to compete
Despite their importance, MSEs face significant hurdles when trying to participate in school feeding programs. Procurement policies remain a major roadblock to MSE entry.
Large suppliers have the financial muscle to endure long payment cycles: 30, 60, or even 90 days, whereas MSEs, which operate on cash-based transactions, cannot afford to wait. Schools, constrained by rigid procurement regulations, find it easier to work with established distributors rather than smaller, locally embedded suppliers.
Then there’s the issue of scale. MSEs typically supply small quantities daily, whereas school feeding requires bulk deliveries over an entire term. Bridging this gap requires innovative solutions.
The IDRC funded CCHeFS project, has been instrumental in organising MSEs in Kibra, Korogocho and Mukuru into registered Local Business Associations (LBAs), allowing them to pool resources, aggregate supply, and compete more effectively for school feeding contracts. But more needs to be done.
A blueprint for change
If school feeding is to become a true game changer for the adoption of healthy diets in low-income urban settlements, MSEs must be recognised as the economic driver and supported through procurement and financing models that reflect how these businesses actually operate. Governments and the private sector should develop financing mechanisms that ease cash-flow constraints, allowing smaller suppliers to participate without long payment delays.
Investment in local storage and aggregation facilities would also improve supply chain efficiency, making it easier for MSEs to supply schools and increase the availability of healthy foods in these settlements.
Collaboration with smallholder farmers in rural production areas is another critical piece of the puzzle. Intermediaries like the Kenya National Farmers Federation (KENAFF), which is the umbrella organisation for farmers in Kenya, have shown that when MSEs can work directly with farmers, the result is a safer, more reliable supply chain, one that prioritises both quality and nutrition.
Strengthening these linkages would not only assure the safety and quality of school meals but also drive demand for locally grown food, reinforcing the entire agricultural ecosystem.
The road ahead
Through the CCHeFS project, these LBAs have taken major strides to participate in policy influencing through participation in the Food Liaison Advisory Group (FLAG) committee of Nairobi County Government. This platform is critical to their continued advocacy for favourable business terms.
As policymakers debate the future of school feeding, they must recognise a fundamental truth: without MSEs, the system is weaker. These businesses are not just suppliers; they are enablers of food security, economic empowerment, and community resilience. Strengthening their role in school feeding programs is a strategic move that benefits everyone.
The next step is clear. We level the playing field. We remove financial barriers. We create policies that recognise MSEs as essential partners in feeding Africa’s children. Because when small businesses thrive, so do school feeding programs, and so do the millions of children who depend on them.
For more information on Wasafiri’s work with school feeding initiatives, smallholder farmers and MSEs, or the CCHeFS project, please reach out directly to george@wasafirihub.com.
https://wasafirihub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Local-Business-Associations-scaled.jpeg14412560Rikki Agudahhttp://u05.88f.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Wasafiri-LOGO-1.pngRikki Agudah2026-01-29 17:57:282026-01-30 11:44:51Making school feeding work through MSEs and smallholder farmers
Supporting non-state actors in Zambia to co-create a shared vision for their food systems has been both a homecoming and a deep learning journey for me. Working with civil society, young farmers, business, and government, through a nationally convened process led by the National Food and Nutrition Commission (NFNC) and supported by GIZ, we set out to see the whole system together and ignite long-term, inclusive change.
Why this work matters to me
Zambia is my home country. I grew up and was educated there, supported by public resources, before life and work took me elsewhere. Living far from home comes with a certain guilt: the knowledge that the opportunities and security enjoyed abroad impose a subtle burden, acting as a constant reminder of the contribution one owes to the community back home.
When the opportunity came to support non-state actors to develop a compelling vision for Zambia’s food systems, it immediately resonated with both my professional practice in systems transformation and my personal responsibility. The task was to help civil society, private sector and other non-state actors clarify where they want Zambia’s food systems to go, in a way that speaks to everyone who cares about food as the foundation of well-being, livelihoods, and the environment.
Food is a powerful lens. If you want to understand an economy, a community, or a country’s possible future, you can follow the life of food. From preparing the soil, to planting, harvesting, transporting, processing, and consuming. When you look closely in Zambia, you see that a huge proportion of people’s income and survival is tied to the soil and to food-related activities, especially for women and, more recently, young people.
Martin Kalungu-Banda
Seeing the whole food system
One of the first things that struck me in this work was how much knowledge already exists in Zambia. The people gathered, from civil society organisations, local authorities, small and medium businesses, transporters, academics, and others. They held rich insights about food, the environment, and collaboration. In many ways, they were living libraries of experience.
Yet their perspectives were often fragmented, each focusing on a specific part of the system. Farmers may focus on inputs, yields, and markets without always connecting this to policy or to the health of the soil. Processors may focus on the raw materials coming through the gate, not on how the soil was treated or what kinds of seeds were used. Policymakers may work on regulations and subsidies without fully hearing how these land in the daily lives of smallholders or transporters. This kind of siloed thinking is common in many sectors and countries, but in food systems, it can be particularly costly.
Our work, therefore, needed to help people see the whole. Wasafiri’s Systemcraft approach and Ubuntu philosophy became a practical way of widening awareness and connecting the dots. The aim was to enable participants see how their individual actions sit within a wider web of relationships that include soil health, climate, livelihoods, gender dynamics, and cultural attitudes to food.
Group work, 3D modelling exercise
Why gender and youth sit at the centre
Any serious conversation about Africa’s food systems must put gender and youth at the centre.
Most Zambians who derive their livelihoods from the land and from food-related activities are women. Much of this labour does not show up as formal “employment”, yet it is the backbone of household survival. Women till the land, plant, weed, harvest, process, cook, sell, and feed families. When we talk about food systems, we are therefore talking about women’s economic agency and gender equality in very concrete terms.
If we care about the economic emancipation of women and girls, we must look closely at the food system cycle: who controls land, who decides what is planted, who has access to finance and other inputs, whose labour is recognised, and who benefits from value addition. These are not abstract questions; they shape daily life.
The same is true for young people. It has been inspiring to see the passion of young farmers who are imagining a future different from that of older generations and who are taking up farming as a deliberate choice.
At the same time, urban youth can face stigma when they stay connected to traditional foods. For a child, eating imported fast food can be seen as “modern” while bringing sweet potatoes or pumpkin to school for lunch can mark you as “from the village”. This reveals how culture and identity intersect with food choices and health.
By placing gender and youth at the heart of the visioning process, the work in Zambia has tried to surface these dynamics rather than treat them as side issues. Food connects directly to health, education, and opportunity.
What children eat affects whether they are alert in class or weighed down and sleepy. What women can earn from food-related activities affects whether girls stay in school.
Group work, 3D modelling exercise
Making collaboration real
From the outset, we knew that complex issues such as food systems do not respond to heroic individuals, no matter how knowledgeable they might be.
These issues respond to collective action. So, the design of the process—which involved all key stakeholders–was itself an expression of the kind of collaboration we wanted to see in the system.
Rather than a typical “expert at the front, audience listening” workshop, everyone present was treated as an expert. The condition for being invited was not a job title, but a real stake and experience in food systems.
We explicitly distinguished between debate and dialogue. In debate, each person defends their position. In dialogue, we listen in ways that allow our own views to shift because we are open to new information or perspectives emerging.
To make this real, we used methods that went beyond talking. When participants mapped Zambia’s food systems, we did not only hand out flipcharts and markers. We brought out what you might normally find in a kindergarten: coloured clay, pipe cleaners, and other simple materials.
People built three-dimensional models of the system as they saw it, moving pieces around, adding connections, and making the invisible visible. It was playful on the surface, but very serious underneath.
Seeing food systems in 3D helped participants notice relationships, feedback loops, and the gaps that would have remained hidden on a flat page.
Modelling exercise examples
We also recognised that the people in the room could not fully represent the diversity of stakeholders. So, we embedded “sensing journeys” into the process. Over a period of weeks, participants went out to listen to others: traditional leaders who are custodians of land, young people, businesses of different sizes, government officials, and community members. These were not extractive interviews. They were an intentional widening of the circle of voices shaping the emerging vision.
Part of the process included engaging with the participants online. Connectivity and cost of data were real challenges. Not everyone could join every online session, and sometimes voices dropped mid-sentence.
Meeting in nature, close to soil and crops, was far more inspiring than meeting in a high-rise in the capital city, but budget constraints meant we could not always choose the ideal environment. Still, people found ways to keep learning together, including through informal channels to share what they were sensing on the ground.
From shared vision to long-term transformation
The culmination of this journey was the co-creation of a shared vision for Zambia’s food systems: Happy earth. Healthy food. Thriving Zambia — across generations.
Participants were proud of what they produced. “The visioning process was a game-changer for us! We are now using the visioning methodology when working with our youth and other stakeholders. The approach has really helped improve generative listening and how we are implementing food systems transformation as an organisation”, said a participant from a youth-focused organisation.
In small, diverse groups made up of farmers, programme implementers, processors, advocates, and others, they drafted different versions of the vision. These drafts were then displayed and reviewed in silence, allowing everyone to absorb and reflect before speaking.
We then invited a small group of “self-appointed adults” from among the participants to take on the responsibility of synthesising these drafts into a single vision.
The group worked iteratively: crafting, sharing back to the wider group, receiving feedback, and refining. Even at the “graduation” meeting, they remained open to further adjustment. This was what we had envisioned.
This process built two critical capacities. First, the capacity to work with others across differences in power, sectors, and perspectives. Participants experienced directly that transforming a system requires collaboration between government, business, civil society, young farmers, and many others.
Second, the capacity to experiment with practical tools and methods such as stakeholder dialogues, sensing journeys, silence, 3D mapping, and coaching circles to generate new thinking and, more importantly, action.
Final group check out
A vision, however, is only a starting point. Real change will come through cycles of experimentation… what engineers call prototyping.
The next phase, in my view, is for different actors to run concrete experiments at various points in the food system: from regenerative soil practices, to reducing post-harvest losses, to rethinking transport, to reviving traditional crops and seeds, to innovative ways of handling so-called “waste” so it enriches rather than depletes ecosystems.
These prototypes, tested, refined, and scaled over time, are what will gradually align Zambia’s food systems with the vision that has been collectively crafted.
Transformation happens through trial and error, through learning by doing, not through ideas alone.
Over the past decade, Wasafiri has grown into a trusted partner for systems change work across Africa and beyond. By 2025, more than 90% of our work and our team was based on the continent. That shift had already begun to shape how we worked, who we partnered with, and what we were learning about how meaningful change actually happens.
In early August 2025, we aligned our leadership with this reality. This leadership transition marked a new chapter for Wasafiri. It reflected a long-held ambition to root our leadership, voice, and decision-making in the places where the systems we work on are lived and shaped every day.
A legacy that made this possible
This moment built on the stewardship of Alex Rees, who led Wasafiri as Managing Director through a period of growth, learning, and increasing impact. Under his leadership, Wasafiri strengthened its reputation as a consultancy grounded in systems thinking and committed to making good change happen, particularly across Africa.
That legacy included a clear strategic direction: as our work and team increasingly centred on Africa, so too should our leadership. Alex’s transition out of his executive role and into an advisory position created space for that ambition to fully take shape. We remain deeply grateful for his leadership and continue to benefit from his guidance in an advisory capacity.
Leadership rooted in the region
Following this transition, George Kaburu and Ian Randall stepped into strategic leadership roles to lead Wasafiri’s next phase.
George Kaburu took on the role of Executive Director (Operations), leading our consultancy work and team from our Nairobi headquarters. Ian Randall, a founder of Wasafiri, continues as Executive Director (Strategy), guiding our offer to clients and partners.
Together, they represent a leadership model that is globally connected, but with proximity to the communities and organisations we engage with across Africa.
As George reflected at the time, “I am looking forward to working with such a talented and hugely experienced team, working with clients and partners to solve some of the world’s most complex problems.”
Localisation matters for systems change
For donors and practitioners working in systems change, the importance of place-based approaches is increasingly clear. Systems are shaped by history, relationships, culture, and lived experience. Being close to communities, institutions, and partners is a practical choice.
Locating leadership in Kenya has strengthened our ability to listen more closely to local and regional actors and respond more appropriately to emerging dynamics. From our Nairobi headquarters, the transition affirmed what had always been our intended trajectory: to move our centre of gravity closer to the systems and communities we serve.
We are proud of this transition. It was aligned with our purpose, and it continues to position us to support ambitious systems change efforts across the region.
https://wasafirihub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/stella-george-ian.jpeg9601280Stella Odhiambohttp://u05.88f.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Wasafiri-LOGO-1.pngStella Odhiambo2026-01-21 20:59:572026-01-21 21:11:12Wasafiri’s leadership transition is rooted where our work is
Across Africa, technology is shaping how people learn, heal, trade, and entertain themselves.
From mobile money to AI-powered health platforms, digital innovation is opening doors that once seemed firmly shut. But if there is one thing that came through clearly in a recent gathering partner convening, it is this: technology alone will not deliver transformation. It is the ecosystem around it that will. The partnerships, financing, and the culture of experimentation is what will determine whether Africa’s digital future is inclusive, sustainable, and rooted in impact.
At Wasafiri, we see this every day in our work alongside partners across Africa and beyond. Our network of systems-change consultants helps organisations step back, see the bigger picture, and build the collaborations needed to turn innovation into lasting impact. The insights we’ve recently gathered strongly echo the themes that are shaping Africa’s digital future.
Cecilia speaking at the Porticus Rooted for Impact partner convening in Nairobi. 2025
Tech for Good is more than gadgets and apps
The phrase Tech for Good is gaining momentum across the continent, and rightly so. It captures the idea that innovation is not just about shiny apps or impressive code, but about solving real problems in ways that expand dignity and opportunity for the millions who need it.
Take HEAL, a survivor-centric digital mental health platform designed in Kenya to support those who have experienced sexual and gender-based violence. It combines the reach of technology with the sensitivity of culturally attuned counselling, offering confidential support through an AI-powered therapist. This is Tech for Good at its best. It meets people where they are, with tools that respond to urgent social needs.
And the potential goes far beyond health. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, AI alone could add up to US $1.5 trillion to Africa’s economy by 2030 if the continent captures just 10% of the global AI market.1
Applications range from boosting climate resilience to expanding access to finance and education. Done right, digital innovation can become one of the greatest equalisers of our time.
Why experimentation matters
A shift in mindset from seeing innovation as a high-risk gamble to embracing it as a process of trial, learning, and adaptation will take experimentation. A scary notion for many.
Africa needs to create spaces where startups, researchers, and development partners can “fail fast” and “learn faster”. Iterative prototyping, open innovation, and bold experimentation are essential tools for navigating uncertainty and making limited resources go further.
When innovators have the freedom to test, pivot, and refine, they find creative solutions that rigid, risk-averse systems overlook. This agility is what allows new ideas to grow from fragile pilots into scalable, life-changing services.
The role of policymakers, investors, and funders here is clear: to create safe conditions for experimentation. That means financing early-stage pilots, supporting incubators, running case competitions, and backing mentorship across sectors. By backing the process as much as the product, they enable innovators to take the risks that lead to breakthroughs.
Cecilia speaking at a Porticus partner convening workshop in Nairobi
Partnerships as the engine of scale
But no single innovator or organisation can build the future alone. Strong partnerships are the glue that holds Africa’s innovation ecosystem together.
We have already seen how collaboration between governments, private investors, civil society, and academia can spark progress. For example, when mobile money took root in East Africa, it scaled because regulators allowed space for experimentation, because telcos invested in infrastructure, and because communities quickly integrated it into daily life.
The same is true today. Whether it’s scaling an ed-tech platform across borders or embedding renewable energy solutions in rural communities, the challenge is less about inventing the technology and more about weaving the right web of relationships around it. Trust, shared vision, and joint investment are what turn bright ideas into systemic transformation.
This is also where Wasafiri has found our role: helping partners see the bigger picture, convene unlikely coalitions, and design the collaborative platforms that enable innovation to take root and scale.
Mobilising capital for African-led innovation
If partnerships are the engine, capital is the fuel. And here, Africa still faces a stubborn gap. Too often, funding for innovation is short-term, donor-driven, or externally designed, leaving local innovators struggling to grow beyond the initial or start-up stages.
This is beginning to change. More African investors are entering the field, and global players are recognising the importance of long-term, locally anchored finance. But the shift needs to accelerate.
Sustainable financing means aligning investment strategies with systemic outcomes. It means measuring success in equity, resilience, and social impact, and not just profits.
At the recent convening, we see that there is also an urgent need to make capital more inclusive. By 2030, Africa is projected to create 230 million new digital jobs, and over 650 million people will need to reskill or upskill2. Ensuring that women, youth, and marginalised groups can access the resources to participate in this future is not optional; it is foundational.
Seeing the bigger picture
At the heart of these conversations lies a hopeful vision. To get there, three shifts are essential:
Embracing a culture of experimentation – normalising “fail fast, learn faster” approaches so that innovation becomes a process of discovery, not a single bet.
Strengthening collaborative ecosystems – building partnerships across sectors and borders to scale what works.
Mobilising sustainable capital – unlocking financing that is long-term, inclusive, and impact-driven.
It is easy to get swept up in headlines about AI breakthroughs or the latest startup on the block. But the deeper story is not about the technology itself. It is about people and the systems they create together.
We believe that Tech for Good in Africa is ultimately a collective endeavour. It is about ensuring that the digital future is not something that happens to Africans, but something shaped by Africans, for Africans.
https://wasafirihub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/generated-image-1.png7681344Cecilia Mwangihttp://u05.88f.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Wasafiri-LOGO-1.pngCecilia Mwangi2025-12-03 10:52:052025-12-05 12:34:09Unlocking Africa’s Digital Future Through Partnership and Experimentation
As COP30 unfolds in Belém, Brazil, the world gathers at a pivotal moment for climate action. This year, as I join governments, civil society, Indigenous peoples, and youth gathering to shape our shared future, it is clear that food systems are finally taking their rightful place at the heart of climate discussions.
At Wasafiri, we believe that food connects climate, nature and livelihoods. If we are serious about building a just and resilient world, then transforming food systems must be central to how we act on climate.
It has taken decades for food systems to move from the sidelines of climate diplomacy to the main agenda. This shift reflects a growing understanding that agriculture, nutrition, and land use are inseparable from climate resilience, biodiversity, and equity.
At COP28, food systems were formally acknowledged in the Global Stocktake and the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action, endorsed by over 150 countries. COP29 maintained momentum, but lacked coherence. Now, attending COP30 in person, I see a strategic opportunity to embed food systems into climate action.
How food systems fit into COP30
Under Brazil’s Action Agenda, food systems feature as one of six thematic axes, specifically Axis 3: Transforming Agriculture and Food Systems. This is a major breakthrough, recognising that food systems are also cultural, and political.
Axis 3 focuses on three pillars:
Restoring land and promoting sustainable agriculture through agroecology and Indigenous stewardship.
Building resilient and adaptive food systems that can withstand climate shocks while reducing waste and improving supply chains.
Ensuring equitable access to food and nutrition for all, especially the most vulnerable.
What’s shifting at COP30
Several developments at COP30 are set to shape how food systems are integrated into climate action:
Unlocking climate finance for sustainable agriculture and agroecology, especially for smallholders and Indigenous communities.
Integrating food systems into national climate plans (NDCs and NAPs) to align mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity goals.
Bridging the Rio Conventions, on climate, biodiversity, and desertification, to create a more coherent and impactful approach to food systems transformation.
Advancing the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) to strengthen resilience and ensure that adaptation strategies are inclusive, nutrition-sensitive, and grounded in local realities.
Linking agriculture, forests, and the blue economy, recognising that food systems are connected to both land and sea.
Kenya’s priorities: Global ambition, local realities
Kenya enters COP30 from a position of both urgency and opportunity. Climate impacts are already reshaping agriculture and livelihoods, but communities are actively innovating in response. The food systems agenda at COP30 offers a chance to elevate Kenya’s models of resilience, regeneration, and justice.
Key priorities include:
Carbon markets and land use that protect community rights and ensure benefits reach smallholders.
Scaling agroecology and regenerative practices, building on Indigenous knowledge as climate intelligence.
Integrated land and water governance that prioritises community stewardship and water justice.
Inclusion of Indigenous peoples in decision-making and finance mechanisms.
Youth-led innovation in digital agriculture and market systems, showing what a resilient, climate-smart future can look like.
COP30 represent an opportunity to redefine what climate ambition looks like. Food systems sit at the intersection of the biggest global challenges we face: hunger, biodiversity loss, and the climate crisis.
By centring food systems, COP30 can turn climate commitments into concrete, equitable action. The task now is to ensure that the promises made in Belém translate into resilience for farmers, nourishment for communities, and regeneration for the planet. “The transformation we need won’t come from any single policy or actor. It will come from how governments, farmers, financiers, and communities work together to reimagine food systems as engines of resilience and regeneration” adds Ian Randall, Wasafiri’s Director.
https://wasafirihub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/54907846261_85ec0353fa_k.jpg5522048Ledama Masidzahttp://u05.88f.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Wasafiri-LOGO-1.pngLedama Masidza2025-11-19 14:33:322025-11-19 14:38:56Why COP30 must centre food systems
The African Food Fellowship on October 24 2025 hosted the annual Kenya Transform Food Festival in Nairobi, Kenya. The gala event brought together food systems leaders working in governments, private sector, research and academia, financing, civil society, and community groups to celebrate leadership as an essential catalyst for transforming food systems in Kenya.
Through a series of well curated sessions and inspiring speakers, the festival showcased food systems leadership in action, and celebrated those who have made great strides to build collaborations and work towards a common goal.
Food 4 Education senior policy manager Stella Kimani delivers a keynote speech at the festival.
“Food systems transformation is not just theory but applied courage. It’s adaptive, collaborative, and grounded in the belief that Africans can design and scale solutions to Africa’s problems,” said Food 4 Education senior policy manager Stella Kimani, who delivered the keynote speech.
Stella, who is also an African Food Fellow, challenged the audience to lead with courage.
“We start at the intersection of possibility and responsibility. Your leadership matters. Our continent does not need heroes but architects of systems who build bridges between generations and ideas. Let’s keep experimenting, collaborating and leading with courage,” she said.
Africa’s food systems are at a pivotal moment and provide big opportunities for change and transformation. With the CAADP Kampala Declaration signed in January this year, Africa reaffirmed its commitment to end hunger by 2035 by increasing sustainable agricultural production, tripling inter-Africa trade in agro-food items, and reducing post-harvest losses.
Africa’s food systems are intricately entwined in a complex web of factors, including climate volatility, governance, trade, technology, cultural norms, and economic inequities. By design, these challenges defy one-size-fits-all solutions. Food systems leadership becomes indispensable in diagnosing these intertwined issues and orchestrating collective action.
The Kampala Declaration recognises this and notably differs from previous agreements by moving away from focusing on technical interventions and quantitative metrics to enhancing food system approaches and embracing inclusive design and implementation processes. Simply put, it signals a strong intention to put people at the centre of food systems transformation.
Happy smiles! Guests enjoy conversations and finger foods during the festival.
The festival honoured this intention by offering an opportunity for Fellows to showcase their food systems actions, which are initiatives that they are working on to secure real impact on the ground. They demonstrated how they have used collective leadership to unlock public private partnerships for healthy school meals and inclusive value chains, bridge the data gap in the aquaculture sector, and merge aquaculture and horticulture systems in the arid lands.
African Food Fellowship Kenya FSA Lead Ledama Masidza (far left) leads Fellows Stephen Muthui, Proscovia Alando and Salash Leshornai in a panel discussion on their Food System Actions.
“Where I come from, the climate is changing faster than culture. Pastoralism on its own is not a viable source of income for communities in ASAL regions. This is why we are setting up a learning hub to teach communities a new way of securing their livelihoods and nutritious diets for everyone,” said Salash Leshornai, who is working with Kelvin Muli and Robert Shumari to introduce integrated Aquaculture–Horticulture Systems (Aquaponics) in Kajiado and Samburu counties. This is a climate-resilient alternative which demonstrates that a nutritious plate can be locally secured—fish for protein and vegetables from the kitchen garden—even in the dry season.
Fellow Robert Shumari elaborates on the Aquaculture Learning Hub model and its intended impact.
On their part, Fellows Proscovia Alando, Mary Opiyo, Alice Hamisi and Ruth Lewo demonstrated how they are bridging the date gap in the aquaculture industry to ensure that women’s contributions are more visible and can therefore attract more support.
“Through data, we are connecting farmers with the necessary support so that the information we collect can give actionable insight to not only improve farmers’ business but strengthen food security. We involve a diverse set of actors. We connect the farmers to financiers, insurance providers, input providers, and markets,” they said.
Fellows Alice Hamisi and Proscovia Alando (right) interact with guests curious to learn more about their work in making women in aquaculture more visible.
The evening culminated in the awarding of the Food System Action prize, which went to Feeding Futures, and initiative designed by Fellows Julia Kamau, Sylvia Kuria and Stephen Muthui to deliver nutritious indigenous meals to school children in Kenya’s informal settlements. Due to limited space in government-sponsored schools, these children attend alternative private schools which receive no formal support from the government, including the school feeding programme.
“We envision a country where all children have access to organic and healthy food. This is a right in our constitution, so we’re not coming. to do a favour for these children but ensuring their rights are protected,” said Stephen, who represented the group at the award ceremony.
Food System Action award winner Stephen Muthui (third from left) poses for a picture with Fellows and members of the AFF secretariat.
Guests also had a n opportunity to interact with the latest research by the African Food Fellowship which provides evidence that leadership is a catalytic force that turns good ideas into a systems-changing interventions. Food systems leadership enables collective action and brings multiple stakeholders to the table, including the people most marginalised by the existing system, to become co-designers, implementors, and advocates of the solution.
“At the African Food Fellowship, we curate the conditions for people to collaborate and act. We need to change behaviour, shift power dynamics, secure investments and incentives, and influence policy. That’s a human-centered approach,” said the African Food Fellowship head of networks and delivery Claudia Piacenzia.
https://wasafirihub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Kenya-transform-Food-Festival-2025-428-1024x684-1.jpg6841024Jacqui Kubaniahttp://u05.88f.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Wasafiri-LOGO-1.pngJacqui Kubania2025-10-27 14:12:102025-10-27 14:26:19Kenya Transform Food Festival 2025: Leading differently to transform food systems
