Africa’s food and agriculture leaders will gather in Kigali later this month for a forum aimed at addressing one of the continent’s biggest challenges: how to attract the investment needed to make food systems more productive, create jobs and withstand climate shocks.
More than 5,000 leaders, policymakers, investors, scientists, entrepreneurs and young innovators from more than 50 countries are expected to attend the 20th Africa Food Systems Forum, which will take place from Aug. 31 to Sept. 5.
President Paul Kagame is expected to open the forum, held under the theme, “Investing in Africa’s Agri-Food Systems: Nourishing Nations, Growing Jobs, Building Resilience.”
The meeting comes as African governments contend with food insecurity, climate shocks, rapid population growth, unemployment and limited access to capital. Organizers say the focus will be on moving beyond political commitments and finding ways to finance and implement food-system projects at scale.
The forum follows the 2025 edition in Senegal, where six countries presented food-system programs with a combined target of more than $6 billion in investment. The programs covered food-system transformation, youth employment and sustainable agri-food value chains.
The Senegal meeting also produced a pipeline of projects considered ready for investment, including businesses led by young people and women. Discussions there pointed to blended finance, investment de-risking and greater domestic resource mobilization as ways of bringing more capital into the sector.
Amath Pathé Sene, managing director of the Africa Food Systems Forum, said the continent has the capacity to transform its food systems but needs investment to turn that potential into results.
“Africa has the knowledge, the innovation and the entrepreneurial energy to transform how our continent produces, processes, trades and consumes food. What we need now is to match that ambition with investment and action at scale,” Sene said.
The Kigali forum will bring governments, development finance institutions, investors and private companies together to identify investment opportunities and advance projects across agriculture and food value chains.
Its agenda will center on investment and finance, food security and nutrition, climate resilience, youth and digital innovation, and trade, markets and value chains.
An AFSF Deal Room will provide a platform for African agribusinesses, entrepreneurs and innovators to meet investors and financial institutions, with the aim of mobilizing capital and developing partnerships.
The forum will also focus on the role of young people and women in the food economy, including how digital technology, stronger markets and investment can expand opportunities in production, processing and trade.
The 20th edition will bring together six former African heads of state and government through its Council of the Wise. The group includes former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, former Guinean Prime Minister Mohamed Beavogui, former Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou, former Beninese Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou and former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, who is also chair of the AGRA board.
Senior officials and development leaders expected at the meeting include former African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina, Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Qu Dongyu, International Fund for Agricultural Development President Alvaro Lario, AGRA President Alice Ruhweza, African Union Commissioner for Agriculture Josefa Sacko and CGIAR Executive Managing Director Ismahane Elouafi.
Nardos Bekele Thomas, CEO of the African Union Development Agency, Claver Gatete, U.N. Under Secretary-General and executive secretary of the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa, and Silvia Maria Fonseca Massruha, president of Brazil’s Embrapa, are also expected.
For Rwanda, the forum will offer a chance to showcase its food-system transformation efforts and strengthen Kigali’s role as a venue for discussions on African agriculture, food and investment.
The meeting will also consider implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme and preparations for COP32 in Addis Ababa.
“After 20 years of progress, the question facing Africa is no longer whether transformation is possible, but whether the continent can mobilise the investment, partnerships and action required to deliver it. AFSF 2026 will bring those decisions to Kigali,” Sene said.
The forum will close with a Food Festival focused on food, culture and innovation and a communique linked to the Kampala CAADP Declaration.
