AFSF 2025: Ledama Masidza on how he is bringing frontline experience and leadership to the Forum

• How are you currently contributing to healthy, inclusive and sustainable food systems?

Right now, my work is all about building bridges with local and indigenous communities. I empower these communities by supporting their contextual solutions through solution labs, preserving and promoting their traditional knowledge, and integrating sustainable practices that respect both the land and their heritage.

• Why is this year’s AFSF important to your work?

This year’s Africa Food Systems Forum is happening at a pivotal moment. The themes are directly aligned with my mission, from climate-resilient agriculture to youth leadership to scaling regenerative practices. These conversations are not just relevant; they are essential for the challenges I tackle daily together with the communities I work with. This year’s AFSF provides a platform where our voices can ensure that local and indigenous perspectives are front and center.

• How are you looking forward to contributing my skills and expertise at the AFSF?

I’m bringing my frontline experience — the real-world lessons from working with farmers and fishers, building value chains, and testing innovative models that put dignity and fairness first. Whether it’s in panel discussions, collaborative workshops, or those corridor conversations that often spark the most transformative ideas, I’ll be sharing what works, what doesn’t, and how we can scale the good. I’m here not just to speak, but to listen deeply, and co-create solutions that are as grounded as they are ambitious.

• What are the most important outcomes you are hoping will be delivered by the AFSF?

For me, the most important outcome would be a tangible shift from talk to action — commitments backed by resources, partnerships that break silos, and clear pathways for scaling solutions that have already proven their worth. For food systems at large, I want to see us embrace regenerative approaches not as a trend but as a necessity, center equity in every decision, and measure success not just by yield, but by health, resilience, and community well-being.

• Who are you most looking forward to meeting or hearing from at the AFSF? And why?

I’m looking forward to connecting with fellow food systems disruptors — the ones working in the shadows and the spotlight, those acting. I’m especially excited to hear from leaders bringing discussions on a more sustainable Blue Foods future to the forefront, and from young voices redefining what leadership looks like in Africa’s food future.

• What does food systems leadership mean to you?

Food systems leadership, to me, is both a compass and a catalyst. It’s the ability to see the food system not as isolated parts—farmers here, markets there, consumers at the end—but as a living, interconnected web where every action sends ripples through people, planet, and prosperity. It’s about holding the big picture in one hand—climate change, biodiversity, equity, livelihoods—and a basket of local realities in the other: the stories of farmers, fishers, traders, and eaters whose daily decisions shape that system.