
Impact story
African Food Fellowship connects new generation of leaders for food system change
How do we change food systems in Africa so that everyone has fair access to healthy and sustainable food? The African Food Fellowship brings together a new generation of African professionals to turn passionate effort into system change. The Fellowship is now in its fifth year in Kenya and Rwanda.
"There are plenty of good intentions, strategies and agendas to achieve food systems change in Africa", says Joost Guijt, Director of the African Food Fellowship and Knowledge Manager at Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation, part of Wageningen University & Research. "The problem is implementation. We need a new generation of leaders in the African agri-food sector to translate plans into real systemic changes and to stand firm for these changes."
First of all, we see that the Fellows present themselves much more emphatically as leaders of food system transition.
That new generation is now coming together in the African Food Fellowship. In 2021, two groups of thirty professionals each in Kenya and Rwanda became African Food Fellows, starting their leadership journey with the 10-month Food Systems Leadership Programme. The programme is the Fellowship’s core learning offer and creates a foundation for Fellows to acquire a shared language and tools to unpack food systems, analyze their complexity, and identify a food systems action to work on.
The Fellowship has since recruited four cohorts in both countries, one every year, and now counts 230 Fellows in total. The aim of the initiative is to help participants work on food systems actions that shift policy, power, investment, and incentives together. Guijt: "We paid a lot of attention to the content of food system transformation and how leaders can act on it. We then work with Fellows to make this relevant for their daily jobs."
Close community and big wins
Five years after its launch, a lot has been achieved, according to Guijt: "First of all, we see that the Fellows present themselves much more emphatically as leaders of food system transition. They look fundamentally differently at the meaning of their work. Many have moved from working on isolated problems in the food system, to now focus more on the drivers for system change. Equally important, a strong reciprocity has developed between Fellows in both countries. They often felt alone and insecure in their roles and knew little or nothing of each other's existence. Because they found each other through the Fellowship, they draw courage and ideas from each other. We are seeing many cross-pollinations between actors that were not there before."
Consequently, a big highlight has been seeing emerging collaborations among Fellows as they begin to focus their efforts on joint food systems actions which are initiatives designed to shift the underlying conditions that give rise to pertinent challenges such as malnutrition in children, food waste, and poor livelihoods for farmers. In addition, the Fellowship is increasingly recognised as an authority on food systems leadership on the continent, and has partnered with institutions such as AGRA and the African Leadership University to advance good leadership in agri-food systems in Africa.
The Fellowship takes its thought leadership responsibility seriously and has invested in solid research to seek evidence on how passionate, competent, accountable leadership can really transform food systems so they provide personal and planetary health and healthy prospects for many. You can access the Fellowship’s research library here.
Impressed by the level
At the start four years ago, the big question for Guijt was whether the Fellowship would succeed in finding the right high-quality Fellows in Kenya and Rwanda. Any doubts about that are gone, he says: "It took no effort at all to select talented and knowledgeable people. I am deeply impressed by the level of participants." He is therefore not worried for the coming years: "The plan is to start a new group in both countries every year for at least the next five years. In this way, the Fellowship will expand with a new layer every year."
Dealing better with stakeholders
Ruth Lewo Mwababu, a business developer in the Kenyan aquaculture sector, is an Aquaculture Fellow of the African Food Fellowship. In her work, she benefits greatly from the programme, she says: "First of all, the Fellowship taught me new skills and capacities for dealing with complex issues. If you want to bring aquaculture to local communities, you have to deal with many parties: from farmers, the local administration and policy makers to input suppliers. The Fellowship programme enables me to better deal with these stakeholders individually and as a group. I zoom out, zoom in and bring parties back to the table."
If you want to grow and expand your capabilities, this Fellowship is for you. Especially if you have an open mind and the ambition to become a critical thinker.
Ruth particularly encourages medium-level technical food system professionals to apply for the African Food Fellowship. These, she says, have the necessary sector experience and recognise the challenges at hand: "If you want to grow and expand your capabilities, this Fellowship is for you. Especially if you have an open mind and the ambition to become a critical thinker. It helps if you have already worked with different agricultural sub-sectors."
"Strong network needed"
"We are all interconnected", is the key lesson for Aime Kayumba, Access to Nutrition Fellow in Rwanda. Kayumba, founder and CEO of the Rural Development Initiative in his country, has learned that you need a strong network to make an impact. Thus, he uses his network for capacity development among farmers and for connecting them to the market: "We support them in production while ensuring their access to a reliable market."
We are all interconnected
"No walk in the park"
For Kenyan Monica Githige, Agri-Finance Fellow, the leadership programme is already having a major impact on her professional career. For instance, she owes her current position to it: "I was headhunted based on my role in the Fellowship."
You must be self-disciplined and willing to roll up your sleeves. And above all, you have to be open to learning from others.
Her advice to professionals considering signing up for the programme? "Be present, it is not a walk in the park. You must be self-disciplined and willing to roll up your sleeves. And above all, you have to be open to learning from others. But then a great time awaits you."
Six modules, Ten months - More than a one-off programme
The African Food Fellowship, a joint initiative of Wageningen University & Research and Wasafiri Consulting and supported by the IKEA Foundation, Small Foundation and University Fund Wageningen, starts with a 10-month intensive leadership programme. In six modules, Fellows gain insight into food systems in their broad context and learn how to ensure systemic change. Besides some physical networking meetings, most of the programme is online. "Corona initially made this a necessity", Guijt explains. "Gradually we discovered that this allowed us to reach people all over Kenya and Rwanda with the programme and not just from one or two cities."
Now that the programme has been running successfully in two countries for five years, the Fellowship wants to expand to other countries in Africa. Talks with investors about this are currently ongoing.
The fifth cohort of Fellows will be recruited in early 2025 and start in September of the same year.
The leadership programme is the gateway to a long-term Fellowship. “Many leadership programmes are one-off efforts. The African Food Fellowship has set up a structure for cooperation beyond the leadership programme, namely the Kenya and Rwanda Food Fellowships.” These country food fellowships are supported networks where Fellows can continue to connect and collaborate as they continue their leadership journeys. An annual Transform Food Festival, food systems action prizes, network gatherings and more are part of what the African Food Fellowship is experimenting with to elevate the efforts of its Fellows.
More information can be found on www.africanfoodfellowship.org.