GAIN at AFS Forum 2026
2026 Forum Theme
Nourishing nations, growing jobs, building resilience
Overview
Under the summit theme, "Investing in Africa's Agri-Food Systems: Nourishing Nations, Growing Jobs, Building Resilience" GAIN’s participation will focus on how investment can move beyond commitments to practical action that improves nutrition, strengthens markets and supports more resilient communities.
Across these messages, GAIN will use AFS Forum 2026 to connect evidence, partnerships and implementation experience with the investments needed to make nutritious foods more available, desirable and accessible for the most vulnerable, in a sustainable way.
Engagement
GAIN’s engagement at the Africa Food Systems Forum 2026 will include side events, breakthrough sessions, plenary contributions, innovation hub engagements and webinars.
| Type | No. | Event title | Event summary | Date and time | Organisers | GAIN Role | Focal Point | GAINers involved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Side event | 1 | Working Together to Accelerate Agrifood Systems Transformation in Africa | This event will share Accelerator progress and gather feedback on policy coherence, coordination and monitoring. Read moreThis high-level event will share Accelerator progress and introduce its offer to African governments and stakeholders. Ministers, National Convenors and agrifood leaders will discuss what coherent partner contributions will require — less fragmentation, deeper policy coherence and stronger monitoring — alongside candid discussion and structured feedback on priorities and methods. | Thursday, 3 Sept 8:00-9:00 | GAIN, FAO, SUN Movement, NFP, Akademiya2063, AGRA, UNFS Coordination Hub, GIZ, FIAP, Expertise France | Lead | Ninon | |
| Side event | 2 | Financing Home-Grown School Feeding: An investment in Diet Diversity for Nutrition | This session will examine how governments can sustainably finance school feeding, diet diversity and menu quality. Read moreThis session will highlight the importance of investment in school feeding to drive improved nutrition and food security outcomes in the context of African food systems transformation and global socio-economic and security developments. While government commitment under CAADP for scaling home-grown school meal programmes will remain substantial, the global poly-crisis will continue to put school feeding budgets under pressure, affecting menu quality, diet diversity guidelines and the inclusion of fortified whole grains. The session will ask how governments can use public investment and domestic funding to sustainably finance diet diversity and menu quality in school meals that promote healthy food habit development. | Thursday, 3 Sept 8:00-9:30 | Nutrition and Health Thematic Platform | Co-organiser | Aimé | To be confirmed |
| Side event | 3 | Rwanda Pavillion: Beyond production: Strengthening Food Systems for Safe, Affordable and Healthy Diets | This session will explore how Rwanda can link agriculture, markets, nutrition and investment to improve healthy diets. Read moreStarting from Rwanda's experience, the session will examine how agricultural policy, food markets, nutrition programmes, food-safety regulation and private-sector investment can work together to close this gap. The session will also open a forward-looking conversation on what it would take for Rwanda to treat nutrition not only as a public health priority, but as a measurable economic asset — one the food system could track, value and invest behind, much as carbon and biodiversity outcomes are increasingly rewarded elsewhere. This emerging idea will be offered to spark discussion rather than to present a finished proposal. | Wednesday, 2 Sept 11:00–12:30 | NCDA, MoH, GAIN, UNICEF | Co-organiser | Jean Claude | Silver - Speaker |
| Side event | 4 | Power the Plate: Energy for Nutrition | This side event will focus on investment in vegetable markets and energy solutions to improve affordability and consumption. Read moreVegetable supply and consumption will need to more than double in most African countries to achieve healthy diets. Globally, optimal intake could save about 22m DALYs/year. Key barriers will include pricing and inflation, consumer preferences, and the high cost of energy and inputs, which contributes to high losses and high prices. The side event will highlight what can be gained through increased investment in vegetable markets and will examine how energy solutions, investment and partnerships can help bring the cost of vegetables down and increase consumption. | Monday, 31 Aug 10:30–11:30 | GOGLA, Energy Coalition | Speaker/Panelist | Sowrya | Aimé - Speaker |
| Side event | 5 | Data for informed investment decisions: Lessons from the Food Systems Country Countdowns for Accelerating Transformation in Africa | This event will discuss how Country Countdowns can strengthen accountability and data-informed food systems investment. Read moreAfrican countries will increasingly invest in evidence-based approaches to guide food systems transformation. The Country Countdowns, adapted from the global FSCI, will offer a promising monitoring mechanism to strengthen accountability, improve cross-sector coordination and support data-informed policymaking and investments. The side event will bring together governments, technical partners and researchers to reflect on country experiences in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Zambia, and discuss how these can be scaled to strengthen implementation and accountability for food systems transformation across Africa. | Monday, 31 Aug 9-10 AM | GIZ, FSCI, GAIN | Co-organiser | Catia Pedro | Francoise - Speaker |
| Breakthrough | 6 | De-risking solutions for AgriSME finance | This session will showcase how de-risking and integrated support can unlock investment for Agri-SMEs. Read moreADA - Appui au Dévelopment Autonome, as a catalyst, together with donors, implementation partners and beneficiaries, will showcase how integrated support programmes and de-risking mechanisms can leverage public-private partnerships to unlock relevant investment, strengthen Agri-SME performance and deliver scalable impact. | Friday, 4 Sept 11:00AM - 1:00 PM | SSNUP, ADA | Speaker/Panelist | Aimé | Lawrence and Diplav - Speakers |
| Breakthrough | 7 | Public Procurement for Nourishing Nations | This session will explore how public food procurement can advance nutrition, local economies and resilient food systems. Read morePublic food procurement will be positioned as one of Africa's largest yet most underutilised public investments for transforming food systems. This session will explore how procurement can improve nutrition, strengthen local food economies, support farmers and SMEs, and build resilient food systems. Drawing on experiences from Kenya, Nigeria and Benin, the session will bring together governments, development partners, private sector and youth representatives to discuss implementation lessons, common challenges and opportunities for scaling procurement as a strategic investment for healthier diets and food systems transformation. | Tuesday 1 September 13:30–15:30 | FOLU, GAIN | Co-organiser | Diplav Sapkota | Lawrence and Diplav - Speakers |
| Plenary | 8 | Charting Consumer Demand Trends & Our Food Environment | This plenary will examine how consumer demand and food environments can accelerate healthier diets and market growth. Read moreThis thematic plenary will explore how consumer demand for healthy and nutrient-dense foods shapes, and is shaped by, Africa’s food environments and informal and formal markets. It will examine how food environments influence trust, affordability and desirability, and how private sector strategies can be leveraged to generate demand and aspiration for healthy diets. By linking demand and supply-side dynamics, the plenary will demonstrate how targeted policies and public and private investment into nutrient-dense foods can accelerate healthy diets, unleash market growth and create jobs for women and youth. | Friday 4 September 13:30–15:30 (CAT). | AGRA, GAIN, SNV, ATNi, Rockefeller Foundation, etc | Co-organiser | Aimé | Lawrence - Speaker |
| Innovation Hub | 9 | Powering Agri-Food Systems Value Chains Amid a Global Energy Crisis | This session will examine how energy access can support competitiveness, reduce losses and strengthen rural livelihoods. Read moreDrawing from the latest IRENA reports, the session will highlight how renewable power costs remain low, making renewables the cheapest source of new electricity in most markets and strengthening their cost advantage over fossil fuels. It will note that installed renewables helped avoid an estimated USD 480 billion in fossil-fuel costs in 2025, turning renewables into a geopolitical shock absorber against fossil-volatile systems during energy crises. Discussions will examine how energy access can support competitiveness, reduce losses, strengthen rural livelihoods and accelerate food systems transformation. | Tuesday 1 September 16:00-18.00 | GOOGLA, SNV | None | Sowrya | Sowrya - Speaker |
| Webinar | 10 | How Food Trade and Markets Shape Diets in West Africa | This webinar will examine how trade and markets can shape access to diverse and nutritious foods in West Africa. Read moreThis webinar will examine how food trade and markets shape diets in West Africa, recognising both their potential to improve access to diverse and nutritious foods and the risks they may pose for healthier food environments. It will bring together perspectives from trade, nutrition, public policy and the private sector. | 26/08/2026 | GAIN, AGRA, OECD | Co-Organiser | Stella | |
| Webinar | 11 | Shaping Consumer Demand for Nutritious Diets in Africa | This webinar will explore how private-sector action and enabling policies can shape demand for nutritious diets. Read moreThis webinar will explore the key drivers of consumer demand for nutritious diets and examine how private-sector actions and enabling policies can shape consumer demand and positively influence food systems and the food environment. It will also reflect on the opportunities, constraints and trade-offs associated with aligning commercial objectives, affordability considerations and nutrition objectives within rapidly evolving African food environments. It will serve as a preparatory and engagement activity aligned with the Africa Food Systems Forum 2026 Nutrition and Health Platform. | 28/07/2026 | GAIN, AGRA, OECD, ATNI, Alliance Biodiversity-CIAT, IRDC | Lead | To be Confirmed |
Session details, speakers and timings will continue to be refined as the programme is confirmed.
Meet the GAIN team
Executive Director, GAIN
Programme Lead, Nutrition Enterprise Development
Country Director, Rwanda
Country Director, Nigeria
Chief Technical Officer
Rwanda Policy Advisor
Country Director, Benin
Food Fortification Manager-Innovations-Business Models & PPPs
Digital Production Associate
Ethiopia Country Director, GAIN
Country Director, GAIN Uganda
Senior Associate - Innovative Finance
Communications and Project Manager
Portfolio Lead, GAIN Rwanda
Pre-forum webinar
Ahead of AFS Forum 2026, GAIN and partners convened a webinar exploring how consumer demand can support healthier diets and stronger agri-food systems. The discussion looked at the factors that shape food choices, including knowledge, affordability, pricing, convenience, access, taste, trust and marketing.
Having trouble viewing the video? Watch it directly on YouTube .
This webinar was led by GAIN and convened in collaboration with AGRA, ATNI, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, OECD and IDRC.
The webinar examined how private-sector action and enabling policies can help shape healthier food environments in Africa’s rapidly evolving food systems.
It also reflected on the opportunities, constraints and trade-offs involved in aligning commercial objectives, affordability and nutrition goals.
