African Food Fellowship: Good leadership key in creating healthy, inclusive and sustainable food systems

The graduating Fellows received certificates for completing the 10-month Food Systems Leadership Programme, which equips them with the skills, knowledge, and connections needed to initiate and deliver effective food systems actions.

“We believe that good leadership is a skill that can be taught. There are brilliant agricultural innovations, scientific breakthroughs and progressive policies emerging every year, but the key to transforming food systems is having good leaders who can make good decisions and work well with others. Our Fellows demonstrate what is possible when silos come down and people work collectively,” said African Food Fellowship Kenya Dean and Country Lead Brenda Mareri.

The Fellows are experienced food systems leaders whose work targets horticulture, aquaculture, and agri-finance sectors.

Their professions cover a wide spectrum, including government officials, community leaders, entrepreneurs, farmers, scientists, development workers, financiers, educators and journalists.

Collectively, they are working to shift the power, policies, investments, and incentives that shape food systems.

“The most important ingredient of good leadership is collaboration. I have invested in over 40 startups, and the 20 that have been successful have one thing in common: their founders are collaborative and actively seek out partnerships. The solution may be sitting two degrees next to you, so dare to ask,” said entrepreneur and tech leader Kris Senanu, who was the chief guest at the ceremony.

Guests at the graduation ceremony were treated to a showcase of initiatives that the Fellows are working on to resolve perennial food systems challenges in Kenya, such as food insecurity, malnutrition, and food waste.

These initiatives, known as food systems actions, include new ideas around reducing post-harvest losses for fishermen in Turkana, transforming flower waste into much-needed organic fertiliser for farmers, and leveraging agriculture to unlock carbon financing.

Fellows also demonstrated how they are revolutionising indigenous foods for modern diets and how agroforestry has became an essential component in producing herbal teas and cordials.

The guests enjoyed opportunities to interact with the work and identify potential areas for collaboration.

“Since joining the African Food Fellowship, I have become a bolder and more effective leader. I have learned how to use foresight methodologies to plan better and make sound decisions to address current and future challenges,” said Fellow Sophie Nabuliri, who is working to pass on her leadership skills to young agripreneurs, ensuring that they are able to build robust businesses that can attract investors.

The graduates will continue their engagement with the African Food Fellowship through the country network, a vibrant space with over 120 members, where they will enjoy opportunities to continue learning, co-create knowledge, and collaborate on food systems actions. They will access masterclasses, share insights and information about their sectors, and contribute to research on food systems. 

The African Food Fellowship is a network of leaders in Africa working on radical change to transform food systems across the continent. We support food systems actors with world-class training, platforms, and opportunities to spark collaborative action for healthy, inclusive, and sustainable food systems. The Fellowship is initiated by Wageningen University and Research and Wasafiri Consulting with support from the IKEA Foundation.