By Benjamin Abugri, Abdulrazak Ibrahim and Shaquille Pennaneach
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – July 24, 2025
The city of Addis Ababa today played host to the opening of a crucial Validation and Stocktaking Meeting on the margins of the UN Food Systems Summit +4 (UNFSS+4). Held under the theme “The Power of Foresight – Using Scenario Analysis to Drive Collaborative Action for Food Systems Transformation,” the gathering brought together over 20 dynamic participants at the Golden Tulip Hotel. Among them were foresight practitioners, Monitoring, Evaluation and learning (MEL) experts, Knowledge Management Experts, policymakers, researchers, and institutional representatives drawn from the CGIAR, sub-regional institutions, universities and a wide range of foresight practitioners from across Africa and beyond.
Jointly organized by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the Foresight4Food Initiative, with generous support from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the event marks a major milestone in a two-year action research project aimed at co-developing quality criteria and evaluation approaches for using foresight as a strategic tool in transforming Africa’s food systems.
Day one unfolded with an interactive and forward-looking spirit. The sessions opened with a synthesis of knowledge drawn from previous literature reviews, expert consultations, and the project’s inception workshop. These reflections laid the groundwork for exploring how foresight, when properly designed, evaluated, and embedded in policy processes, can act as a transformative tool for systemic change, informed decision-making, and inclusive stakeholder engagement.
Participants examined how foresight can be made more inclusive and impactful, particularly by elevating the roles of youth and women and drawing from Africa’s rich Indigenous knowledge systems. They emphasised that African traditional knowledge, rooted in oral traditions, spirituality, and local values, should be acknowledged and respected within foresight methodologies.
Another key highlight was the emphasis on the role of knowledge management in capturing and utilizing these indigenous assets. Participants urged that foresight frameworks should not simply replicate external models, but instead reflect Africa’s own knowledge ecosystems, drawing from a blend of traditional wisdom and modern scientific insights. Digital transformation was celebrated as a key enabler, especially in expanding access to scenario planning tools, simulation models, and collaborative learning platforms that foster foresight literacy and drive collective decision-making.
The meeting also highlighted the growing ecosystem of foresight actors in Africa, including the leadership of the Africa Foresight Academy established by FARA. The Academy is a strategic platform supporting knowledge exchange, peer learning, and the institutionalisation of foresight practices across the continent’s agri-food systems.
The day’s final session was devoted to an intensive group exercise that brought these insights into sharper focus. Four thematic groups explored foundational questions shaping the future of foresight in Africa. One group reflected on the concept of impact, what it means in practice, how it is manifested, and how African contexts can shape its expression in policy, behavior, and institutional learning. Another group explored the criteria and indicators necessary to evaluate foresight quality and effectiveness, underlining the importance of adaptability, stakeholder engagement, and learning as both an output and a metric.
A third group took on the challenge of interrogating the foundational assumptions behind foresight processes. They examined the mental models and paradigms that often go unquestioned, proposing strategies, including simulation, role play, storytelling, among others, to help practitioners surface and challenge these assumptions in pursuit of more inclusive, locally grounded scenario-building. The fourth group focused on the practical application of foresight, examining what makes it truly useful, how to align it with user needs, and how to embed it into decision-making spaces through co-creation, timely communication, and digital integration.
These reflections will not only enrich the emerging M&E Guide that the project aims to produce but also build shared ownership among practitioners and decision-makers across the continent. The knowledge and outputs generated will be carried forward to the broader UNFSS+4 Summit deliberations, ensuring that African voices, experiences, and priorities remain central in shaping the global future of food systems foresight.
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Images from Workshop: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCnDF9
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