African Food Fellowship graduates 5th Rwanda cohort at AFSF 2026

Some 27 African Food Fellows from Rwanda have graduated from the Food Systems Leadership Programme offered by the African Food Fellowship. The graduation ceremony was held in Kigali on 31 August 2026 during the launch of the Africa Food Festival, organised as part of the 2026 Africa Food Systems Forum.

The new graduates join a growing network of over 300 fellows from Rwanda, Kenya and Zambia, representing more than 200 organisations working across Africa’s food systems.

“We need leaders equipped with the right knowledge and skills, and with the right mindset and attitudes, to implement solutions to Africa’s food system challenges. At AFF, we are nurturing these kinds of leaders. We are proud of this cohort and the work they are doing,” said AFF Executive Director Pascal Murasira.

The ceremony offered an opportunity for graduating Fellows to showcase their food systems actions, which are initiatives designed to provide solutions to some of Africa’s most pressing food systems challenges. They include innovations in managing food waste, strengthening food safety, unlocking markets and financing for farmers, and climate smart agriculture.

Joselyne Dushime, for example, is developing an investment playbook to help investors, financial institutions and entrepreneurs evaluate and finance hydroponic projects in Rwanda. The project seeks to address gaps in local investment evidence, business models and risk assessment tools.

“My leadership is not about doing things on my own. One of my highlights as an African Food Fellow has been the opportunity to meet and connect with other leaders who have different perspectives. We share ideas and opportunities, and work together on shared goals,” she said.

On his part, Manasseh Mukiranga, credited the Fellowship with helping him to develop a systems-thinking approach which has been integral to his work. He is developing a Poultry Centre of Excellence to equip secondary-school graduates with practical poultry production, business management and entrepreneurship skills.

“Every ecosystem leader eventually encounters a problem larger than themselves,” said Anysie Ishimwe, AFF Rwanda Lead, “and such challenges often exceed the capacity, budgets or expertise of individual organisations.”

The Fellowship seeks to bring leaders from different parts of the food system together so they can identify shared challenges and build partnerships rather than attempting to solve complex problems independently. It is also working with other organisations to create a critical mass of over 25,000 food systems leaders across Africa to deliver the ambitious targets set out in the CAADP Kampala Declaration.

The Kampala Declaration, which took effect in January 2026, sets the agenda for the next decade, calling for inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agri-food systems across the continent. However, the African Union’s Biennial Reviews of previous commitments show that most countries are off track on the commitments they have made, despite strong frameworks and political declarations. Implementation gaps are often attributed to constraints such as a lack of financing, weak infrastructure, or market dynamics. But unlocking these complex areas depends on the ability of leaders across diverse organisations to see the bigger shared picture, align goals, collaborate, and advance delivery in a coherent fashion.

“We have evidence that leadership multiplies the effectiveness of technical programmes, financing mechanisms, and innovation pipelines. We must scale and resource it to match the ambition of the decade,” said Pascal.

The graduation ceremony was also graced by the Fellowship’s partners and supporters, including IKEA Foundation’s Food Systems Lead Michael Kwame Nkonu.

“Leadership is not about our personal achievements and credentials, rather it is about how we’re making connections between different pieces and actors to feed the continent as we go along,” he said.