The Guide was developed under FARA’s leadership in partnership with the Foresight4Food Initiative and the University of Oxford, with valued support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Speaking at the launch, FARA’s Executive Director, Dr Aggrey Agumya, emphasised that Africa’s agrifood systems are navigating intensifying climate variability, demographic shifts, technological change, evolving trade dynamics, and geopolitical uncertainty. These interconnected pressures require a move beyond reactive planning toward structured, long-term, systems-based thinking.

He noted that foresight is no longer optional, but a strategic necessity for effective implementation of the Post-Malabo Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) agenda and broader continental development priorities.

The Quality Criteria Guide provides a practical framework to enhance the rigour, inclusivity, transparency, and policy relevance of foresight processes. It establishes standards to strengthen the design, implementation, evaluation, and institutional embedding of foresight within decision-making systems across national, regional, and continental levels.

FARA expressed its sincere appreciation to IDRC for its catalytic funding support and confidence in advancing high-quality foresight practice in Africa. The organisation also acknowledged the intellectual collaboration and methodological rigour contributed by the Foresight4Food Initiative and the University of Oxford.

The launch signals not the conclusion of a project, but the beginning of a broader continental effort to institutionalise foresight as a permanent feature of Africa’s development architecture.

The Quality Criteria for Food Systems Foresight in Africa is now available for download:

https://aaspace.org/items/d29bdfae-08e4-4b5f-9c47-ac5a942b1dd9

FARA encourages policymakers, researchers, regional bodies, and development partners to adopt and institutionalise these criteria to strengthen resilient, inclusive, and future-ready African food systems.

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By Bridget Kakuwa, Benjamin Abugri &  Molalet Tsedeke 

Africa has taken a decisive step toward strengthening the resilience and long-term sustainability of its agrifood systems with the official opening of the Africa Continental Foresight Consultations for Resilient Agrifood Systems in Nairobi. The high-level consultations convened policymakers, researchers, development partners, and practitioners from across the continent to advance foresight as a core instrument for anticipatory governance, evidence-based planning, and resilient investment decision-making.

In his opening remarks, the representative of the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development/State Department of Agriculture (MOALD/SDA) Mr Peter Orangi welcomed delegates from the African Union Commission (AUC), the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), sub-regional organisations, universities, and Member States.

Mr. Peter Orangi, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development/State Department of Agriculture

He observed that the consultations were taking place at a pivotal moment for Africa’s agrifood systems, which are being shaped by climate change, demographic pressures, market volatility, and environmental degradation. He stressed that continental frameworks such as the Kampala CAADP Declaration, Agenda 2063, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the Food Systems Resilience Programme provide a solid foundation for anticipatory and inclusive decision-making, noting that “foresight equips Africa to shape its agrifood future rather than be shaped by it.”

Officially opening the consultations, H.E. Moses Vilakati, African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment,  underscored that foresight is no longer optional in a context defined by climate shocks, volatile food and input prices, rapid technological change, and geopolitical and public health risks. He noted that the consultations directly advance the aspirations of Agenda 2063 and give practical effect to the Kampala CAADP Declaration and the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan 2026–2035, which recognise that Africa’s agrifood systems are being reshaped by demographic change, urbanisation, shifting diets, climate variability, and deeper regional integration. He further highlighted the alignment of the consultations with Phase 3 of the Food Systems Resilience Programme, which calls for strengthened forecasting, reduced response times between early warning and action, and improved institutional arrangements for preparedness across the continent.

H.E Moses Vilakati, Commissioner, AUC-ARBE

Vilakati stated that the wide range of institutions represented, from Member States and RECs to research organisations, farmer organisations, women’s and youth networks, and development partners, demonstrated a shared commitment to strengthening preparedness and long-term resilience across Africa’s agrifood systems. He emphasised that the consultations marked the beginning of a more structured and institutionalised continental engagement on foresight, which the African Union intends to embed as a standard instrument within its policy and planning systems.

H.E. Vilakati outlined five key policy directions that, in my view, should shape the continental framework and roadmap for foresight in Africa’s agrifood systems. First is the institutionalization of foresight within AU, REC, and national systems, including accountability frameworks, clear responsibilities, predictable resources, and regular reporting; secondly, the integration of foresight into CAADP, climate, and food systems agenda, emphasizing that foresight must inform the next generation of CAADP investment plans, climate adaptation strategies, food systems pathways, and trade and market policies; third is the strengthening of data, analytics, and capacities across the continent, ensuring that high-quality foresight depends on timely data, robust analytical tools, and skilled practitioners; fourth is to deliberately elevate community, youth, and gender-responsive perspectives where the foresight architecture formally recognizes and indigenous and community-based knowledge systems; and finally, requesting the linkage of foresight to concrete financing and accountability mechanisms, emphasizing that real value only occur when it lead to action.

Dr. Namukolo Covic, ILRI Director General’s Representative to Ethiopia, CGIAR Ethiopia Country Convener and Incoming Head of CGIAR Liaison Office for Africa

Contributing to the technical dialogue, Dr Namukolo Covic emphasised that foresight should be fully embedded in policy and investment processes rather than treated as a parallel activity. “Foresight is not an extra layer of work; it is an additional capability that helps us implement the FSRP and CAADP more effectively,” she said. She highlighted that foresight analysis allows policymakers to understand trade-offs and accelerate progress toward food security and equity, adding, “We must ask whether growth in production alone is enough, or whether everyone is truly accessing sufficient and nutritious food.”

The discussions also highlighted that Africa possesses strong, forward-looking policy instruments, but faces challenges in implementing and coordinating them. Dr Godfrey Bahigwa, former Director of Agriculture and Rural Development at AUC, noted that foresight supports better country-level choices based on comparative advantage. “The purpose of foresight is to help countries make informed choices, what food systems should be prioritised, and how resilience can be built around them,” he said, citing examples such as meat production in Kenya and fruit value chains in Ethiopia. He also cited CCARDESA and IGAD as instruments through which the World Bank appointed to implement FSRP.

Climate and environmental considerations featured prominently throughout the consultations. Several speakers warned that failure to align food systems within planetary boundaries would deepen climate and ecological risks. “If we do not sustain our food systems within planetary boundaries, we expose ourselves to even greater climate challenges,” one panellist cautioned, emphasising the need for foresight-driven innovation and, where necessary, disruptive approaches to food systems transformation.

Panel Discussion Session

A high-level panel discussion featuring Julius Gatune, Olugbenga Adesida, Geci Karuki-Sebina, and Wangeci Gitata-Kiriga underscored foresight as a systematic capability that goes beyond forecasting. Panellists highlighted that foresight requires mindset shifts, systems thinking, and institutional capacity to navigate complexity. “Foresight is not just about predicting the future; it is about building the capability to think differently and act under uncertainty,” one panellist remarked. Youth and intergenerational perspectives were also emphasised, with calls for more participatory and anticipatory approaches that consider the needs of future generations.

As the consultations drew to a close, participants agreed on a set of concrete outcomes to anchor foresight within Africa’s agrifood governance systems, supported by strengthened knowledge management and policy integration processes. Through thematic working groups on early warning and analytical systems, anticipatory governance, research alignment and capacity mapping, policy integration and knowledge uptake, and inclusive and gender-responsive foresight governance, delegates produced practical outputs including draft continental foresight frameworks, policy guidance templates, institutional readiness matrices, governance schematics, and a phased roadmap for embedding foresight into planning, budgeting, monitoring, and accountability processes at African Union, Regional Economic Community, and national levels.

Strong emphasis was placed on robust knowledge management systems to ensure that foresight evidence is systematically captured, translated, communicated, and reused through policy briefs, dashboards, learning platforms, and communities of practice, thereby strengthening uptake by policymakers and practitioners. Participants also underscored the integration of knowledge systems, community-based early warning mechanisms, and the voices of women and youth to ensure foresight approaches were people-centred and context-specific. The consultations culminated in an actionable continental roadmap aligned with the Food Systems Resilience Programme, the Kampala CAADP Declaration, and Agenda 2063, strengthening forecasting and analytics capacities, reducing the time between early warning and response, and ensuring that foresight meaningfully informed policy choices, investment decisions, and long-term resilience-building efforts across Africa’s agrifood systems.

Dr Abdulrazak Ibrahim, Institutional Capacity & Futures Cluster Lead, FARA

Dr Abdulrazak Ibrahim, Institutional Capacity and Futures cluster Lead Specialist at FARA, subsequently outlined the key deliverables of the consultations and their proposed implementation pathways, noting that these outputs are intended to drive practical transformation and long-term resilience across Africa’s agrifood systems.

Ms Beatrice Egulu, Policy Officer, AUC-ARBE

In closing, Ms Beatrice Egulu thanked all delegates for their commitment and active participation, urging them to remain engaged beyond the consultations to promote continuous cross-learning and knowledge exchange across institutions and countries. She emphasised that sustained collaboration would be essential for translating foresight insights into action.

Overall, the Africa Continental Foresight Consultations reaffirmed a shared commitment to institutionalising foresight across continental, regional, and national levels. Participants expressed confidence that the outcomes of the Nairobi meeting, including draft frameworks, governance models, and a continental roadmap, will strengthen Africa’s capacity to anticipate change, manage shocks, and deliver resilient, inclusive, and sustainable agrifood systems for present and future generations.

Dr Bridget Kakuwa is the Information Communication & Knowledge Management Manager at the Center for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA)

Mr Benjamin Abugri is Knowledge Management, Digitalization and Learning Cluster Lead Specialists at the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)

Mr Molalet Tsedeke is Media Liaising and media center officer at the Information and Communication Directorate of the African Union Commission

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The Africa Continental Foresight Consultations for Resilient Agrifood Systems opened today in Nairobi with an atmosphere of optimism, urgency, and shared responsibility. Convened by the African Union Commission (AUC-DARBE) in partnership with FARA, CGIAR/ILRI, AUDA-NEPAD, and a wide network of foresight partners across Africa and the United Kingdom, the workshop marks the beginning of a three-day journey to shape how Africa anticipates, prepares for, and strategically responds to emerging challenges in its agrifood systems. The consultations build on the strong foundation laid by the Kampala CAADP Declaration (2025), which calls for anticipatory and evidence-driven approaches to deliver on continental commitments, including increased food production, resilience-building, gender equality, and inclusive market integration. As noted in the Concept Note, Africa’s agrifood systems face escalating threats from climate impacts, demographic pressures, market disruptions, and transboundary shocks, making foresight indispensable for long-term governance, planning, and investment.

Ms. Beatrice Egulu, Policy Officer, AUC-ARBE

To set the scene for the engagement processes, Ms Beatrice Egulu of the African Union Commission’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (AUC-ARBE) reminded participants that foresight is not merely a technical exercise but a strategic necessity for achieving Africa’s resilience agenda. She emphasised its central role in the Food Systems Resilience Programme (FSRP) and in shaping future CAADP implementation cycles. Her message set the tone for the gathering: foresight must be embraced as a core capability across Member States, Regional Economic Communities, and continental institutions.

Dr. Abdulrazak Ibrahim, Institutional Capacity and Foresight Cluster Lead, FARA

This message was reinforced by Dr Abdulrazak Ibrahim of FARA, whose opening presentation traced the evolution of foresight in Africa, drawing on more than a decade of capacity-building efforts, methodological development, and the emergence of national foresight hubs. His reflections, partly captured through platforms such as the Africa Foresight Academy, highlighted how far the continent has come and underscored FARA’s catalytic role in mobilising experts, strengthening tools, and connecting foresight practitioners across Africa. His presentation reminded the audience that the continent is now ready to consolidate these experiences under a unified AUC-led foresight architecture, aligning closely with the objectives outlined in the Agenda 2063.

Dr Namukolo Covic, ILRI Director General’s Representative to Ethiopia, CGIAR Ethiopia Country Convener and Incoming Head of CGIAR Liaison Office for Africa

A compelling keynote by Dr Namukolo Covic of CGIAR/ILRI added scientific weight to the day’s discussions. Drawing on recent data from the Global Nutrition Report and food systems analyses, she illustrated the multiple burdens of malnutrition, the rise of diet-related diseases, and the widening gap in food insecurity across the continent. She explained that Africa’s current transformation efforts must consider diet patterns, environmental pressures, market systems, socio-cultural drivers, and institutional dynamics, all of which shape nutrition and food system outcomes. Her message was clear: predictive foresight is essential for redirecting progress, guiding investments, and accelerating implementation across all six CAADP Kampala Commitments. She echoed the urgent call not to accept the current pace of progress, but instead to strengthen Africa’s ability to anticipate shocks, model scenarios, and craft long-term strategies that are resilient and inclusive.

The diversity of participants amplified the richness of the workshop, including foresight experts from across Africa, scholars from leading institutions, technical specialists from the CGIAR, practitioners from the Africa Foresight Academy, policymakers, and development partners, including teams from Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Their presence underscores a shared ambition to establish a coherent and collaborative African foresight ecosystem that supports both continental and national decision-making.

Throughout the day, participants engaged deeply with Africa’s foresight journey, reflecting on what the continent has learned so far. Senior foresight practitioners, Julius Gatune, Olugbenga Adesida, Geci Karuki-Sebina, Wangeci Gitata-Kiriga and Godfrey Bahiigwa, among others, revisited earlier milestones, showcasing both successes and persistent gaps. Their reflections reinforced the idea that while Africa possesses strong foresight expertise, the next frontier lies in building a permanent institutional home and governance framework to coordinate efforts across sectors and regions, in support of the AU agenda for Africa. This aligns with the broader objectives of the workshop’s design, which is structured to move from vision-setting to technical co-design and roadmap development.

The first day concluded with a plenary, interactive brainstorming session, where participants began shaping Africa’s future foresight agenda. The discussions were professional, rich, and forward-looking, reflecting a collective belief that the continent must shape its future proactively rather than react to unfolding crises.

As the sun set over Nairobi’s Upper Hill, it was clear that Day 1 had set a strong foundation, one rooted in shared purpose, strategic alignment, and a renewed commitment to building a resilient African future. The work continues tomorrow, with Commissioner H.E. Moses Vilakati delivering the official opening remarks, followed by advanced technical sessions and the first primary outputs from the thematic workgroups. The momentum is palpable, and Africa’s foresight community is ready to co-create a continental roadmap that will guide agrifood transformation for decades to come.

This initiative is a build-up of the work that was started under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme – Ex-Pillar Four (CAADP-XP4 Programme), a consortium of continental and regional agricultural research institutions comprising the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), and the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS).

For more Information:

Visit the Africa Foresight Academy: https://africaforesightacademy.com/

Join the Community of Foresight Practitioners: https://faraafrica.community/fara-net/afa/join

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Africa’s agrifood systems are facing unprecedented complexity. From climate change and escalating nutrition challenges to supply-chain disruptions and demographic growth, the continent’s food systems are increasingly vulnerable. These intersecting pressures hinder our ability to achieve the ambitions of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP), the African Union Agenda 2063, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

At FARA, we believe the missing ingredient is strategic foresight — not just forecasting the future, but actively shaping it. Foresight enables us to anticipate emerging risks, design resilient pathways and align investments and policy with long-term transformation goals. Crucially, it brings together government, research institutions, the private sector, youth and civil society to guide future-proof action.

On 29 October 2025 in Kigali, in the margins of the 21st CAADP Partnership Platform and the 16th Africa Day for Food & Nutrition Security, FARA organised a special side-event titled “Shaping the Future of African Food Systems: Foresight, Quality Criteria & Impact”. The event was implemented in partnership with the Africa Foresight Academy (AFA) and the Foresight4Food Initiative, and supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Key Messages from the Event

• Foresight must be embedded in planning, investment and policy systems — not treated as a one-off workshop.
• Inclusive partnerships are essential, with youth, women, local knowledge-holders and private-sector actors actively co-designing the future of food systems.
• Foresight outputs must lead to action — linking research, innovation, value-chains and investment, rather than remaining conceptual.
• The draft oversight tool — the Guide on Quality Criteria & Impact for Food-Systems Foresight — provides practitioners with practical measures to ensure foresight is inclusive, rigorous, context-appropriate and measurable.
• Foresight capacity-building, institutional mechanisms (e.g., national foresight hubs), and youth leadership are indispensable for achieving a lasting impact.

Integrating the Guide

The Guide, developed by FARA, AFA, and Foresight4Food, offers a practical resource for governments, institutions, practitioners, and partners. It emphasises:

• Working principles & quality criteria: inclusivity, contextual relevance, action-orientation, methodological rigour and ethics.
• Evaluation & impact framework: providing indicators and learning questions to assess how foresight contributes to change (capacity built, policy uptake, investment relevance).
• Procedural guidance: step-by-step processes from scoping and stakeholder mapping through to scenario design and embedding in policy/investment cycles.
• Institutionalisation & multi-actor engagement: guidance for embedding foresight in ministries, research systems, youth networks and value-chain partnerships.

Why this matters for Africa

Shorter, localised food-nutrition value. Chains anchored in climate-resilience and nutrition sensitivity offer enormous promise. But achieving scale requires more than production. We need foresight-based design of value chains, investment in processing & markets, youth-driven innovation, and inclusive systems that learn and adapt. Strategic foresight is the bridge that links these components.

FARA’s Commitment

For over a decade, FARA — in collaboration with its CAADP-XP4 partners (AFAAS, ASARECA, CCARDESA, CORAF) — has spearheaded foresight capability across Africa. Through AFA, we’ve built a continental platform for capacity development, tailored methodologies and youth leadership. In partnership with Oxford’s Foresight4Food Initiative and IDRC, we are now advancing:

• National foresight hubs supporting country planning and value-chain futures.
• Youth-led foresight practice via MOOCs, webinars and hands‐on experiences.
• A bespoke guide tailored to Africa’s contexts (indigenous knowledge, time-horizons, stakeholder participation).

Call to Action

We invite policymakers, researchers, agrifood enterprises, youth networks and financiers to join us by:

• Reviewing the draft meeting note and presentation from the Kigali side-event and reflecting on its relevance in your context.
• Considering how your institution can embed foresight: via curricula, youth platforms, policy units, and value-chain partnerships.
• Joining the AFA community to stay connected and exchange practices.
• Partnering with FARA and others to build resilient, nutrition-sensitive, locally rooted agrifood value-chains designed for Africa’s future.

Together, we can ensure that Africa’s future is not merely inherited — it is designed.

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The seed sector is the quiet engine behind Africa’s agricultural transformation. It powers productivity, resilience, and inclusive growth. Yet, for too long, fragmented systems, weak institutional linkages, and polarized policy spaces have held progress back.

That narrative is now shifting, and recent events, including the Seed Sector Development Meeting and the UNFSS+4 Side Event on Public-Private Collaboration for Seed Systems Transformation, offered compelling evidence of what is possible when diverse actors work together under a shared vision for seed system renewal.

At the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), we were honoured to share insights from our role as a continental coordinator and convenor of multi-actor platforms. Working closely with the African Union Commission (AUC), AUDA-NEPAD, Regional Economic Communities, and national systems, we support efforts to translate Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) into practical solutions through inclusive innovation systems.

A Coalition Mandate Rooted in Continental Policy

FARA delivers on this mandate by coordinating and hosting:

• The Secretariat of the African Seed and Biotechnology Partnership Platform (ASBPP) was established under AU Decision EX.CL/Dec.153 (V) to enhance governance, alignment, and strategic coordination in the seed sector;
• The TAAT Capacity Development and Technology Outreach (CDTO) is a mechanism scaling proven agricultural technologies through multi-stakeholder innovation platforms.
• The Africa Foresight Academy (AFA) institutionalizes climate foresight and strategic planning, with support from the EU, FAO, IDRC, and GIZ.

We operate as part of a broader coalition, working with CGIAR centers, SROs, Seed for Food partners, national seed systems, and global initiatives like SeedNL, whose leadership has demonstrated the power of public-private-academic partnerships to build resilient, inclusive seed ecosystems.

The Netherlands’ “Diamond Approach”: A Model for Collaboration

The Netherlands’ “Diamond Model”: A Global Benchmark for Seed Sector Collaboration

The Netherlands’ seed sector is recognized globally for its success, anchored in the “Diamond Model”-a strategic framework that fosters structured collaboration among government, private sector, research institutions, and civil society. Spearheaded and supported by institutions like the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this model has made the Dutch seed system one of the world’s most innovative, resilient, and inclusive.

At the meeting, SeedNL shared how this model has fostered trust, alignment, and market expansion while ensuring quality, biodiversity, and farmer-centred outcomes. Africa can adapt this approach, tailored to its context, through platforms that institutionalize collaboration, not improvise it, and invest in long-term, depoliticized partnerships.

Depolarizing the Seed Sector: Toward Inclusive Innovation

The seed sector in Africa is often mired in unproductive debates—formal vs. informal, public vs. private, local vs. hybrid. This polarization hampers progress, marginalizes smallholder farmers, and deters much-needed innovation and investment.

FARA and its partners champion a depolarized, pluralistic seed system—one that:

• Recognizes the complementary roles of both formal and informal actors;
• Empowers local seed enterprises and innovation ecosystems;
• Promotes inclusive, evidence-based policy processes rooted in farmer realities.

To unlock the full potential of Africa’s seed sector, we must prioritize integration over ideology, and collaboration over confrontation.

The Seeds for Food Coalition offers a timely and strategic platform to sustain these conversations, foster trust, and advance collective action toward an inclusive, innovative, and farmer-centered seed system for Africa.

Ethiopia’s Case: From Import Reliance to Seed Sovereignty

One of the strongest illustrations came from Ethiopia. Through coordinated public-private collaboration and strategic breeding investments, the country transitioned from importing malt barley to releasing three high-yielding, high-quality local varieties.

Similarly, the release of BH 6241 hybrid maize, developed in partnership with local and international actors, allowed Ethiopia to end maize seed imports by June 2025. This is the kind of progress FARA supports, locally adapted, demand-led, and system-anchored.

From Platforms to Policy: Anchoring Innovation in Institutions

FARA supports over 700 Innovation Platforms across Africa, spaces where policy makers, researchers, private firms, and farmer organizations converge to co-develop and scale seed innovations.

FARA and its community over the years, have learned that true transformation happens when these platforms are:

• Embedded in national agricultural strategies;
• Linked to continental policy frameworks such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP);
• Measured against indicators on variety release, seed availability, and access by smallholders.

That’s why:

• In TAAT, we promote local business linkages via platforms like the Innovation Platform and Agribusiness (IPAbP) Portal.
• In ASBPP, we foster regional integration and policy coherence through technical working groups and thematic clusters.
• In AFA, we institutionalize foresight capacity within seed systems planning.

Youth, Women, and Local Entrepreneurs: The Real Frontline

Transformation is only real when it reaches those at the base of the pyramid. At the Seed Sector Development Meeting, Dina Gebe, a young Ethiopian entrepreneur, shared her journey of transforming indigenous knowledge into an antioxidant-rich green tea product.

Her voice highlighted a core truth: youth and women are not just beneficiaries but innovators, investors, and catalysts. FARA’s platforms support this shift, equipping a new generation of bio-entrepreneurs, seed champions, and system stewards.

Climate Foresight: Designing Resilient Seed Systems

Climate resilience is no longer optional. Through AFA, FARA helps institutions plan for uncertainty, mainstreaming foresight tools, building strategic scenarios, and ensuring seed systems are designed to withstand droughts, heat stress, pest shocks, and market volatility.

FARA representatives with Prof Joachim Von Braun of the University of Bonn

Climate-resilient seed systems must be intentional and anticipatory, not accidental.

What’s Next? From Momentum to Institutionalization

The momentum is clear. But we must go beyond short-lived interventions to truly transform Africa’s seed sector. We must:

Establish a continental coordination mechanism to unify fragmented seed initiatives;
Strengthen public-private collaboration on plant genetic resource conservation and gene bank utilization;
Promote cross-learning and mutual accountability across countries and regions;
Embed transformation within AU-aligned policy frameworks, including CAADP, Agenda 2063, and the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024).

At FARA, serving as the Secretariat of ASBPP and a lead partner in TAAT and AFA, we remain committed to building a seed sector that is resilient, inclusive, and truly African-led.

Because the future of Africa’s food system begins with a seed,
And the future of seed depends on science, foresight, partnerships, and shared responsibility.

Let’s plant the future, together.

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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.

Join the Foresight Community of Practice https://faraafrica.community/fara-net/afa/join

Images from Workshop: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCnDF9

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In his opening remarks, Dr. Aggrey Agumya, Executive Director of FARA, lauded participants for their commitment to advancing TAP’s agenda despite the busy end-of-year season. “Your choice to prioritize this meeting is a testament to your unwavering dedication to improving African agricultural systems,” he remarked.

Dr. Agumya thanked the FAO for partnering with FARA to host the event. He also reflected on his personal association with TAP, tracing its evolution from concept to operationalization. “I was privileged to witness TAP’s journey from its inception at the G20 meeting in Paris in 2011 to its official launch in 2012 during the G20 Chief Agricultural Scientists’ meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico,” he shared. He credited FAO’s leadership for transforming the idea of TAP into a globally recognized initiative.

A central theme of the meeting seeks to address the capacity challenges that hinder agricultural development in Africa. Dr. Agumya highlighted the paradox of underutilized resources in agriculture. “While funding is often cited as a constraint, many countries face difficulty absorbing available resources due to capacity gaps. These gaps are not just about numbers but also about fragmentation within the agricultural sector,” he explained.

He pointed to an imbalance in Africa’s research ecosystem: “National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) receive 75% of research funding but possess only 25% of the research capacity. Meanwhile, universities hold 75% of the capacity but receive just 25% of the funding.” Dr. Agumya called for greater integration between universities and research institutes to unlock Africa’s potential in research and innovation.

The timing of the workshop was noted as particularly significant, coming just ahead of the launch of the CAADP-Kampala roadmap. Dr. Agumya commended TAP for engaging the African Agricultural Research and Innovation Institutes (AARIEIs) in validating the next phase of its strategy. “This roadmap belongs to all of us. Its successful implementation will be crucial in scaling up TAP’s tools and methodologies across the continent,” he emphasized.

He reaffirmed FARA’s commitment to addressing capacity challenges in Africa’s agricultural sector. “By harnessing the research capacity in our universities and aligning it with national priorities, we can drive the transformative change needed to meet Africa’s agricultural goals,” he said.

About TAP

The Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP) is a G20 initiative aimed at strengthening agricultural capacity development worldwide. Focusing on fostering collaboration and innovation, TAP has become a key partner in addressing the systemic challenges facing agriculture in Africa.

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