Making school feeding work through MSEs and smallholder farmers

by Rikki Agudah/

Making school feeding work through MSEs and smallholder farmers

Rikki Agudah

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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
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
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
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

Local Business Associations

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.

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Visioning Zambia’s food systems, a homecoming through Collective Action

by Martin Kalungu-Banda/

Visioning Zambia’s food systems, a homecoming through Collective Action

Martin Kalungu-Banda

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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
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
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
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
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
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.

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Why COP30 must centre food systems

by Ledama Masidza/

Why COP30 must centre food systems

Ledama Masidza
Ledama Masidza

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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:

  1. Restoring land and promoting sustainable agriculture through agroecology and Indigenous stewardship.
  2. Building resilient and adaptive food systems that can withstand climate shocks while reducing waste and improving supply chains.
  3. 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.

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Kenya Transform Food Festival 2025: Leading differently to transform food systems

by Jacqui Kubania/

Kenya Transform Food Festival 2025: Leading differently to transform food systems

Jacqui Kubania

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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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

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School feeding initiatives, a game-changer for East Africa

by Stella Odhiambo/

School feeding initiatives, a game-changer for East Africa

Stella Odhiambo

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School feeding programs are more than just meals on a plate. When designed well, they create jobs, strengthen local food systems, and support children’s health and education. Yet, despite their potential, investment remains alarmingly low across Africa.

The reality is stark: while governments, NGOs, and development partners have made strides, the scale of the challenge far outweighs current efforts. With school feeding at the intersection of nutrition, local economies, and food security, it is clear that no single organisation can solve this alone.

Wasafiri works with a broad network of partners to convene, coordinate, and unlock solutions that drive systemic change. But time is running out. If we want to make school meals a truly sustainable solution, the world needs to act – and invest – now.

A missed opportunity for food systems actors?

Across East Africa, school meals are often the only reliable source of daily nutrition for millions of children. In Kenya, for example, nearly 4 million children benefit from school feeding programs. Yet these initiatives remain largely dependent on donor funding and food imports, failing to harness the full potential of local economies.

Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) presents an opportunity to shift this paradigm. By sourcing food from local smallholder farmers and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), school feeding programs can:

  • Boost rural economies by creating predictable demand for local produce.
  • Improve food security by strengthening regional food systems.
  • Enhance nutrition by prioritizing diverse, locally available foods.
  • Increase resilience by reducing dependence on external food aid.

Despite these benefits, only a fraction of Africa’s school feeding programs are meaningfully linked to local food systems. A scoping review conducted by Wasafiri found that while 76% of school feeding initiatives claim to support small-scale farmers, only 43% have preferential contracting for them, and a mere 7% have legal frameworks to ensure their inclusion. In other words, the potential of HGSF remains largely untapped.

The question is not whether HGSF works; it does. The question is, why is Africa still struggling to make it the norm rather than the exception?

Unlocking the potential of local farmers and MSMEs

While school feeding should be a win-win for both children and local food producers, smallholder farmers and MSMEs face significant barriers to entry. Wasafiri is involved in CCHeFS, a project funded by IDRC aimed at integrating MSMEs and smallholder farmers into school feeding initiatives. Our research reveals some of their challenges:

  • Market access: Many smallholder farmers lack the scale and consistency required to meet the demands of school feeding programs.
  • Financing constraints: MSMEs and farmer cooperatives struggle to access the credit needed to expand production or invest in better infrastructure.
  • Procurement barriers: Government procurement processes often favour large suppliers, sidelining small-scale producers.
  • Logistical hurdles: Weak supply chain networks mean that even when smallholder farmers can produce sufficient food, getting it to schools efficiently is a challenge.

Wasafiri, alongside its partners, is working to identify practical ways to integrate MSMEs and smallholder farmers into school feeding supply chains. We are exploring financing models, capacity-building programs, and policy shifts that could make HGSF scalable. However, the reality is that these efforts, while necessary, are just a drop in the ocean. What is needed is serious, long-term investment.

Where will the investment come from?

The need for financing in HGSF cannot be overstated. While national governments have made commitments, budget constraints mean that school feeding programs often remain underfunded and inconsistent.

Private-sector engagement is almost non-existent in many cases. Yet, major global players such as impact investors, philanthropic foundations, and large agribusinesses have the resources to fill this gap. Organisations such as the Rockefeller Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have invested heavily in food systems transformation. But school feeding has yet to receive the level of attention (and funding) it deserves.

We believe this must change. The case for investment is clear:

  • Return on investment: Studies show that for every $1 invested in school feeding, there is a $9 return in improved health, education, and productivity.
  • Impact on local economies: Research from the CCHeFS project demonstrates that integrating MSMEs into school feeding programs can create thousands of jobs and increase farmers’ incomes by 30-50%.
  • Climate resilience: Sourcing food locally can reduce the carbon footprint of school meals while promoting climate-smart agriculture.

The question is: who will step up?

A call to action: We must act now

Wasafiri has spent years working to understand the complexities of school feeding in Africa. We have conducted research, convened stakeholders, and supported policy discussions. But we cannot do this alone.

If we are serious about transforming school meals into a tool for systemic change, we must move beyond pilots and fragmented projects. We need:

  • Large-scale investments to support smallholder farmers and MSMEs in becoming viable suppliers.
  • Policy shifts that prioritise local procurement and reduce barriers for small businesses.
  • Multi-stakeholder collaboration, bringing together governments, donors, and the private sector.

If you are a funder, policymaker, or organisation that cares about the future of school feeding, now is the time to engage. The solutions exist. The question is whether we have the will to implement them at scale.

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African Food Fellowship opens applications for cohort 5, introduces new impact area

by Jacqueline Kubania/

African Food Fellowship opens applications for cohort 5, introduces new impact area

Jacqueline Kubania

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The African Food Fellowship is delighted to announce that applications are now open for its fifth cohort. The Fellowship is recruiting 80 new Fellows in Rwanda and Kenya, 40 for each country. These are food systems leaders who are passionate about working together to create healthy, inclusive, and sustainable food systems.

Interested candidates can submit their applications before the deadline closes on April 25, 2025.

The Fellowship has also updated its impact areas for this round of applications to better reflect a shift in continental priorities. In Rwanda, we are now targeting applicants working in the impact areas of Healthy and Nutritious Foods, Climate Smart Agriculture, or Inclusive Markets and Trade, while in Kenya, we shall be accepting applications from people working in Horticulture for Inclusive Markets, Blue Economy for Food or Agri-finance.

The impact areas are informed by the new Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Strategy and Action Plan 2026-2035 endorsed in January 2025 by 55 African Union member states. The agreement introduced ambitious new targets, including Increasing agricultural productivity by 50%, reducing undernourishment to less than 5%, reducing negative environmental impacts of agriculture by 40%, and increasing the value of processed food exports by 30%. It also aims to integrate over 10 million small-scale farmers into agricultural value chains. These changes show a more holistic approach in how food is produced, processed, and distributed.

Applications now open

“The new Kampala Declaration signed in January this year has inspired us to revise our impact areas to better align with the targets outlined in the agreement. We now have a sharper focus on trade in both countries, as well as a more deliberate inclusion of climate smart agriculture in Rwanda, and an expansion of aquaculture to encompass the blue economy in Kenya. Targeting leaders working in these areas means that we’re able to better support Africa’s food systems transformation agenda,” said African Food Fellowship Director Joost Guijt.

Currently active in Rwanda and Kenya but with ambitions to expand to all Economic Zones in Africa by 2030, the African Food Fellowship is a dynamic network of leaders working together on bold change to make food systems healthy, sustainable, and inclusive. It is dedicated to building the leadership capacity of food systems actors in Africa so they can better respond to challenges and craft sustainable solutions.

“A lot of investments have been made to end hunger, tackle malnutrition, raise productivity, and generally improve food systems in Africa. However, few have focused on building the capacity of the people tasked with delivering these ambitious targets. Africa needs good leaders to deliver healthy, inclusive, and sustainable food systems the African Food Fellowship is investing in these leaders,” said African Food Fellowship Rwanda Lead Anysie Ishimwe.

The Fellowship has built a thriving ecosystem for food systems actors in Africa to connect with their peers and gain essential leadership skills and knowledge to transform food systems. Fellows are co-creators and co-owners of this ecosystem.

Successful applicants will join an impact network of over 230 Fellows in both countries. They will start their journey with the prestigious Food Systems Leadership Programme (FSLP), a world-class 10-month programme  delivered virtually by faculty from Wageningen University & Research and Wasafiri Consulting. During the programme, Fellows acquire shared language, knowledge and tools to unpack food systems, analyze their complexity, and identify opportunities for systemic interventions.

The Fellowship also supports Fellows as they design, implement, and adapt their food systems actions. Fellows identify common goals and work on new pathways that are healthy, inclusive, and sustainable. They exchange ideas, mentor each other, and work together to achieve shared goals.

Current Fellows include government officials, community leaders, entrepreneurs, farmers, scientists, development workers, financiers, educators and journalists. They contribute different perspectives, practical skills and networks to the Fellowship. Collectively, they can shift the power, policies, investments, and incentives that shape food systems. 

“We especially encourage women, farmers, and people living in marginalised areas to apply because they are often left out of leadership opportunities. The Fellowship is a diverse and inclusive space whose members enrich it with different perspectives, experiences and networks. It reflects the wide spectrum of skills, specialisations, and identities in which food systems in Africa operate,” said African Food Fellowship Kenya Lead Brenda Mareri.

The Fellowship charges a fee of USD 1,000 for the Food Systems Leadership Programme, payable in two instalments. A limited number of scholarships are available for those who can demonstrate they need it. We encourage and support participants to seek organisational scholarships.

Originally posted on the African Food Fellowship website.

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The power and practice of impact networks: Lessons from food systems transformation

by Claudia Piacenza/

The power and practice of impact networks: Lessons from food systems transformation

Claudia Piacenza and

stella odhiambo

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Networks that bring together cross-sector leaders to work on shared problems super charge impact in complex environments.

In Africa, the challenges of hunger and malnutrition remain stark: one in five people – over 282 million – are undernourished (State of Food and Agriculture (FAO 2019)), and 30% of children under five suffer from stunted growth. Despite some progress, these figures highlight how far we are from achieving key nutrition and health targets.

Compounding the issue, Sub-Saharan Africa loses over 30% of its total crop production every year – equivalent to more than USD 4 billion in value. These losses not only strain food security but also undermine efforts to lift millions out of poverty.

Amid these challenges, could the power of networks offer solutions?

Why networks (and not just collaboration) matter

One of the biggest challenges when working on complex problems is adapting to an ever-changing context.

One of the pre-conditions for operating in an adaptive way is dynamic learning. When we approach issues from just one angle, one niche expertise, or one specific or static point of view, we risk falling into the well-known trap of the blind scientist who, touching an elephant’s ear believes that she is touching a fan.

It is only by bringing together diverse perspectives that we can truly see the “big picture” (or in other words, the whole elephant).

Spoiler alert: the “big picture” is not just big – it’s rich and multifaceted.

For example, let’s look at the average age of farmers in Africa. Many organisations are working to engage youth in agriculture, recognising the importance of securing the next generation of farmers.

These efforts rightly focus on making agriculture more attractive for young farmers by lowering barriers to access it, increasing the role of tech and digital tools, and reframing the narrative around entrepreneurial opportunities.

At the recent Kenya Transform Food Festival hosted by the African Food Fellowship, we worked around this very issue – engaging youth in agriculture.

By bringing in different perspectives, the conversation quickly moved beyond traditional business models and the cost of agricultural inputs to collective narratives and educational approaches. Suddenly, we looked at a very familiar problem in an unfamiliar way.

We dived into cultural insight: in many rural areas, schools and families use farm work as punishment for undisciplined children. This shift in focus – from economic barriers to cultural narratives and educational practices – was a revelation to many. Suddenly the problem took on a new dimension, leading us to explore how to reshape perceptions about agriculture and food production, starting with very young children in schools.

While this idea may seem obvious to a sociologist or anthropologist, it was an eye-opener for participants from the private and public sectors.

So why was this breakthrough possible?

It came down to one critical approach that defines how networks work: we placed our shared objective at the centre of our discussion, rather than starting with a particular solution or organisational point of view.

As one of our Fellows once said: “Leave your logos and egos at the door and focus on the common purpose.”

The role of trust in building networks

Of course, for networks to work, we need trust at their core. I’ve heard from many leaders that building trust is the foundation for real collaboration.

Trust allows us to share not just knowledge but resources, shifting from a learning phase to actionable plans. It’s about helping everyone see each other as partners rather than competitors.

In practice, trust takes time and care – it grows as we consistently show up, follow through on commitments, and invite open dialogue. This way, networks become not only strong but safe spaces for everyone involved. We create an environment where funders, local organisations, and practitioners feel comfortable sharing ideas, knowing they’ll be met with respect and openness.

Trust is the foundational pre-condition to move from a competitive approach to a place of collaboration.

When we curate a network that wants to stimulate action (and ultimately deliver impact) we tend to focus on the support provided in the form of grants, technical assistance, facilitation and so on. If we don’t intentionally invest in building trust, our efforts are at high risk of not delivering the expected results.

Systems leadership: The key to lasting impact

Ultimately, networks are a means to an end. The end here is to improve the way people eat, their health and the health of our planet, and their inclusion in economies and societies.

Leading change that transforms our current food systems takes a special kind of leadership. Leadership that drives system transformation requires mastery of complex thinking, adaptive management, and collective action.

A recent study by the African Food Fellowship shows that while technical skills are essential, they are not enough. On top of being agronomists, food safety scientists or nutritionists, food system leaders must embody the qualities of a businessperson, an advocate, a communicator, and an organiser.

Do such leaders exist? And what is the right balance between the skills that we need to develop as individuals versus those we cultivate as part of a collective entity?

How do we know if a network is having an impact?

It’s one thing to build a network, but how do we know it’s truly making a difference? There are two indicators that matter most: network health and impact.

A healthy network is one with active participation, where each member feels valued and connected.

A healthy network provides an opportunity to engage in a variety of ways, based on individual gifts, traits, and life stages.

Impact, on the other hand, is harder to attribute directly to the work of networks. For this reason, we focus more often on contribution and influence.

An invitation to join the journey

Do you want to bring organisations and individuals together around a complex problem? Are you interested in exploring the intersection between network curation and system thinking? Get in touch! Reach out to Claudia on claudia@wasafirihub.com.

The African Food Fellowship recruits new Fellows every year. We will soon be inviting food systems leaders in Rwanda and Kenya to join the Fellowship, which offers a much-needed community of change-makers, learning opportunities about food systems leadership, and chances to collaborate with others working on similar problems.

Visit the African Food Felowship’s website for more information and keep an eye out for calls for application.

Photo by Francesco Rosati

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African Food Fellowship hosts 3rd annual Kenya Transform Food Festival

by Jacqueline Kubania/

African Food Fellowship hosts 3rd annual Kenya Transform Food Festival

Jaqueline Kubania &
Stella Odhiambo

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Happy smiles! Kenya Food Fellows pose for a picture during the Kenya Transform Food Festival.

The African Food Fellowship on 8 November, gathered farmers, researchers, entrepreneurs, government officials and other food systems practitioners in Nairobi for the Kenya Transform Food Festival 2024. The festival, now in its third edition, celebrates leadership action as a key catalyst for transforming food systems in Kenya.

It provides opportunities for like-minded individuals who share a passion for food systems to connect, interact and collaborate to create healthy, inclusive and sustainable food systems. This year’s festival was an immersive and inspirational experience showcasing how the Fellowship is championing food systems actions, which are initiatives that address complex problems within food systems and shift the underlying conditions that cause them. 

“Although there is a lot of good work happening in the agricultural sector in Africa, there hasn’t been a great understanding of how to act systemically. The African Food Fellowship was borne of a need to link people already operating within food systems, and get them to ask: how do we collaborate and shift food systems to be good for people and the planet?”, said African Food Fellowship Deputy Director and Wasafiri MD Alex Rees in a keynote speech given at the event.

First Daughter Charlene Ruto (left) and Prof Ruth Oniang’o (right) interact with Kenya Food Fellow Janet Ngombalu during the festival.

Guests included renowned nutrition expert and food systems leader Prof Ruth Oniang’o, and Kenya’s first daughter and founder of SMACHS Foundation, Charlene Ruto, who both lauded the Fellowship for its efforts to nurture leadership in Kenya’s agricultural sector.

During the event, Fellows had an opportunity to showcase their food systems actions and give guests a look at their personal journeys. They invited guests to make the experience their own by asking questions, giving feedback, and even joining in as collaborators.

“I am collaborating with two other Fellows to make school meals more nutritious for children. We want indigenous foods like cassava, omena, and traditional vegetables included in school feeding programmes because these foods are more nutritionally dense and better adapted to adverse weather conditions,” said Sylvia Kuria, an organic farmer who joined the Fellowship in 2022.

Kenya Food Fellows Auleria Apopo (left) and Sylvia Kuria (centre) take guests through their food system action which addresses childhood malnutrition.

Robert Shumari, who is also an African Food Fellow, showcased his efforts to diversify nutrition and livelihoods in arid Kajiado County, where he is running aquaculture learning hubs to teach the pastoralist Maasai community how to rear fish.

“My community loses a lot of livestock during droughts, which leaves them impoverished and unable to meet their families’ nutrition needs. I am teaching them to farm fish in a sustainable way so that they have food and income even during the driest months,” he said. He noted that so far, over 300 people have attended his workshops and almost 200 of them have started farming fish. Among his biggest collaborators are the county government of Kajiado and the local community, whose buy-in and participation is essential for long-term success.

Kenya Food Fellow Apollo Karugah contributes to discussions at the festival.

The festival also featured a live podcast session where economist Sarah Wachekeh and agri-entrepreneur Mutuma Muriuki took guests through the vulnerable art of building collaborations as a path towards Food System Actions. They got candid about the opportunities that collaborations open up (that are not accessible to singular actors), the challenges and tensions they have had to navigate while working with others, and what success looks like when collaborations work.

“The days of working in silos are over,” noted Sarah. “You have to bring on board as many actors as required in order to achieve meaningful impact.”

Kenya Food Fellows Mutuma Muriuki and Sarah Wachekeh on stage during the live podcast recording at the festival.

The African Food Fellowship approach to food system transformation is built on collaborative leadership. By creating an enabling environment for food system actors who work in different parts of Kenya’s food system to collaborate, they are equipped with analytical, methodological and design skills to address familiar issues in unfamiliar ways, focusing on drivers of systemic change. These initiatives provide creative solutions to the most pressing challenges facing food systems today, including climate change, malnutrition and poverty.

African Food Fellowship learning programme lead Riti Herman-Mostert (left) and Kenya Food Fellow Richard Midikira keenly follow proceedings during the festival.

“The Fellowship believes that systemic leadership can be taught. We back people working on systemic change and give them the support they need to do good work,” said Brenda Mareri, African food Fellowship Kenya Dean and Implementation Lead and Wasafiri’s Senior Manager for Food Systems.

Festival guests pose for a group photo.

This article was originally posted on the African Food Fellowship website.

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Re-wiring how leaders connect to transform Africa’s food systems

by Alex Rees/

Re-wiring how leaders connect to transform Africa’s food systems

Alex Rees

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We were at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF) in Kigali which presented us with lots to ponder. Perhaps the most important being that food systems leadership critically needs investment for food systems transformation.

H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn, Chair of the Africa Food Systems Forum Partners, and Ethiopia’s ex-Prime Minister, opened Africa’s leading Summit in Kigali on food systems in early September 2024. He set the scene for Africa’s food systems transformation.

Three messages from Hailemariam and one from Lawrence Haddad (the fourth), GAIN’s Executive Director, resonated with me:

  • “Food systems transformation is urgent!”
  • “We must tap youth creativity to bring it about”
  • “If governed differently food systems could change and be a lead for other sectors”
  • “Africa has a policy implementation capacity gap”

Africa is currently off-track having failed to achieve the Malabo Goals for 2025 that were set in 2014. At the Summit panellists described myriad challenges from poor resilience of food systems due to climate change; to lack of access to finance and infrastructure including energy, inputs and mechanisation; to low political attention and losing ground on technology.

Africa’s growing food importation bill, including receiving grain from Ukraine, a nation in significant conflict, served as a totem of the challenges. The opportunity is for African soils and ingenuity to feed itself and other regions in the decades ahead if structural challenges are put right.

While positive things were said at the Summit, even a few solutions, and it was a fantastic networking opportunity, I was one of many I spoke to who attended and left with little genuine optimism that the ‘change’ many hope for is in the air. Answering three questions might help us:

  • Where can we source the energy for change?
  • What do we mean by food systems leaders?
  • Why is cultivating food systems leadership considered only ‘nice to have’?
Alex with the African Food Fellowship Team
Alex with the African Food Fellowship Team

Sourcing energy for change

Energy for change can come in two forms: the upcoming Kampala Declaration in January 2025 which has a new Africa-wide vision for the period 2026-2035 bringing a food systems approach; and leveraging new generations of diverse younger change makers working across food systems particularly those in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who wish to positively challenge the status quo with action.

The Kampala Declaration is important as it frames continental ambition in political terms. It provides a locus for African institutions and international actors.

The main shift for the decade ahead is a new focus on a broader agri-food systems approach as agriculture, nutrition and economic development are understood and applied together:

“Policies must be integrated to address trade-offs and interlinkages between sustainable practices, value chain complexity, and nutrition, among other food system factors. The Kampala Declaration also seeks to strengthen institutional capacity, foster transparency, accountability and inclusive stakeholder participation in the governance of agri-food systems.”

None of this is feasible without deeper and broader investment in people, i.e. emerging generations of food systems leaders who can work with complexity and tread a new collaborative path forward.

The latter is where sustained energy for change and action can be unleashed. Financial resources invested in younger resourceful people is a no-brainer.

The world needs change agents, people who make change happen, like never before. And leadership is the much-needed currency to drive that change. Business unusual means equipping, connecting and supporting large numbers of diverse leaders to lead change in sectors across complex food systems.

Partnerships do not exist yet to do this at scale. There are promising initiatives (such as African Union’s Agriculture Mission; the African Food Fellowship and AWARD and up to 15 others) but they are not yet organised for collaboration.

Efforts are afoot to find new means to collaborate and organise collaboration to ensure policy profile and investments are commensurate with the opportunity.

Alex Rees with Brenda Mareri, Food Systems Senior Manager and Kenya Lead at the African Food Fellowship
Alex Rees with Brenda Mareri, Food Systems Senior Manager and Kenya Lead at the AFF

What is food systems leadership?

Thoughtful individuals are shaping a new sense of what food systems leadership is that is different from hierarchical approaches that have often shaped decisions in and between institutions. For example here on Medium by Debisi Araba and Brenda Mareri here: What is food systems leadership?

Efforts to enhance food systems leadership run the risk of being interpreted differently and being ‘washed’ to mean anything to anyone. Working systemically and with good knowledge of how food systems operate is key.

A successful food systems leader will draw from key tenets of systems leadership. They bring their leadership to share a path with others to knit together different food system interests.

For instance, they will acknowledge the complexity that exists and reach out to draw from multiple perspectives. They will focus efforts on improving the enabling conditions or root causes that give rise to today’s problems.

They will take decisions and experiment with actions and intentionally learn as they go, typically making decisions with insufficient information (which is often uncomfortable). They will be humble and collaborative leaders intent on sharing or giving the limelight to others.

They will seek a shared big change in food systems and bring attention to the collaboration needed for change, while cracking on with everyday decisions.

Food systems leadership can and should be learned. But how?

Cultivating food systems leadership at scale

Food systems leaders will drive positive change when they seek common ground with others.

How can we overcome the limitations of current institutions, organisations and businesses that are typically hierarchical and self-interested? And where key tenets of food systems leadership are not incentivised, how can we cultivate genuine food systems leaders? And at scale?

Imagine being part of a dynamic emerging leadership network, focused on transforming Africa’s food systems. A network that connects you in new ways to others you value for the next 10 or 20 years, helping you make informed decisions as you navigate the complexity of food systems, including as you move from one job to another.

This community not only supports your professional learning and growth, but also brings a sense of joy and purpose to your work in its connectivity. A professional association supporting you to be part of a growing army of food systems leaders in your country.

This is what the African Food Fellowship is here to be. Yet the Fellowship is one cog and the continental challenge demands a continental scale of response.

The Fellowship aims to collaborate with others to build an architecture cultivating new generations of food systems leaders. The Fellowship is partnering with the African Leadership University, and it is exploring partnerships, e.g. with AGRA’s CALA and AWARD, to bring food systems leadership development to scale.

I estimate that perhaps 3-6m USD annually is invested intentionally in food systems leadership development. This is tiny in the scheme of the tens of billions of dollars of decisions made by people in food systems each year.

What is the return on investment of tens of thousands of food systems leaders making better decisions that can reshape the drivers for food systems transformation month by month, year by year? It is high.

AGRA’s President concluded the AFSF Summit in Kigali calling for leadership in food systems to be prioritised in efforts to transform food systems. But transforming food systems in Africa will take time. It means rewiring how food systems leaders connect and how they act.

Organisations, institutions, and leaders from all places join us in this shared endeavour. Please reach out to me or anybody connected associated with the African Food Fellowship if you believe you can contribute to this new and exciting, and shared pathway ahead.

The opportunity is to transform food systems further and faster by going together (and not alone).

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