Platform for African – European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development

Monday, July 7, 2025

Webinars and events July 2025

1 July 2025. Session 18 of the IICA-COLEAD Caribbean Agrifood Business Series

2 July 2025. 8:30–10:00 CET. Impact Investing: From Pioneering Innovations to Scalable Solutions

2 July 2025, 14:30–16:30. OECD side event: “Scaling solutions: Improving food and nutrition governance in the Sahel and West Africa” Focus: Strengthening governance, business models, and regional partnerships to build resilient food systems in Sahel/West Africa

2 July 2025. Stronger Farmer Organisations for greater impact CANCELLED 01/07
Join a six-part online series celebrating the transformative power of farmer organizations across the Pacific Islands. Hosted by Pacific Farmer Organisations, this series showcases real-world impacts, best practices, and the voices of farmers shaping the future of food systems and climate resilience

2 July 2025. Session 5: Can farmers become agents in Climate Change mitigation? Farmer Field Schools in Ecosystem Restoration in the Andes

2 July 2025. 14:00–17:00 EAT. Writeshop for My Food is African Barefoot Guide Vol 2

2 - 4 July 2025. Sarit Expo Centre, Nairobi, Kenya. AFMASS Food Manufacturing Expo 2025

3 July 2025. Participatory Foresight for Sustainable Agrifood Systems through Agroecology

6 - 10 July 2025. Italy. New Phytopathology Frontiers of Research and Education for Plant Health and Food Safety

8 July 2025. Building a Resilient and Equitable Coffee Sector: Addressing Price Volatility and Structural Vulnerabilities.

9 July 2025. AI and the African Food System
  • African practitioners, scholars, and policy specialists will be invited to provide inputs on the merits, risks, and ethical imperatives that need to be prioritised within African deliberations on the regulation of Artificial Intelligence, which is being rapidly and eagerly adopted by agro-industries and other food system role players in Africa.

17 July 2025. Gamifying Agroecology

27–29 July, 2025. Addis Ababa. 2nd UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4)

4 - 8 August 2025. African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP) Open Institute East and Central Africa Regional Workshop 2025

24-29 August 2025. 23rd International Congress of Nutrition 

31 August - 5 September 2025. Africa Food Systems Forum (AFS Forum)

10 - 12 September 2025. Hybrid - Bonn, Germany. Tropentag 2025

15 - 19 September 2025. Perth Australia. The 15th Biennial ISSS/ 8th Seed Ecology Conferences

16 - 19 September 2025. 5th All Africa Postharvest Congress and Exhibition (5th AAPHCE)

  • The theme for this year's congress is 'Securing the Harvest: Postharvest Management Solutions for Resilient and Inclusive Food Systems.'
  • This biennial pan-African event is a critical platform for discussing and showcasing innovative solutions in postharvest management
23 - 25 September 2025. Uppsala, Sweden. Agri4D 2025: Nurturing regenerative food systems in a changing climate - three specific sub-themes:
  • Empowering the Next Generation of Food Systems Leaders
  • Transforming Food Systems: Innovation and Implementation
  • Equity, Justice, and Resilience
30 September - 3 October 2025. 8th Global Sustainable Phosphorus Summit (SPS8)

2 to 4 October 2025 Malmö Agroecology Europe Forum

7 - 9 October 2025. Nairobi. 10th AfriLabs Annual Gathering: "Africa’s Innovation Future: Policy, Partnerships, and Progres

28 October 2025. UK-Africa Women in Food & Ag Investment Summit (WiFAI London 2025)

29-31 October 2025. Kigali Rwanda. 16th Commemoration of Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS) and 21st CAADP Partnership Platform

4th–6th Nov 2025. 12th ANAPRI Stakeholders Conference

4 November 2025 – 06 November 2025 - Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Global Gathering

5 - 7 November 2025. GLOBAL CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE

10 - 21 November 2025. Belém, Brazil. UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 30)

26 - 28 November 2025. Wageningen, Netherlands. Food System Microbiomes International conference

12 December 2025. International Conference GAPSYM18 - Resources in Africa

30 September - 02 October 2025. University of Helsinki. Science for Sustainability 2025

Friday, July 4, 2025

Fuel To Fork - What will it take to get fossil fuels out of our food systems?


Our food system is hooked on fossil fuels. From fossil-fuelled fertilizers and pesticides to plastic packaging, ultra-processed foods, and long-haul cold chains, fossil fuels are entwined at every link in the food chain. Food systems now consume 40% of all petrochemicals and 15% of fossil fuels globally – making them a key growth frontier for Big Oil. Yet food remains glaringly absent from the climate conversation.

This dependency is deepening climate risks and threatening food access. As geopolitical shocks drive oil price volatility, food prices follow – worsening hunger. Meanwhile, as other sectors begin to decarbonize, food the fossil fuel industry is doubling down on fertilizers and plastics to sustain its growth – locking in pollution and keeping food systems on an industrial, fossil-fuelled path.

This report sets out what it will take to break that addiction – and why it must start now. It exposes the false solutions being peddled by powerful corporations – from ‘blue’ ammonia to high-tech digital farming – and maps out real pathways forward: phasing out chemical inputs, investing in agroecology, building resilient local food systems, and reining in corporate power.

Examples:

Some steps taken in India with support given by the government are:
  1. The Government of India is promoting Use of solar-powered pumps for irrigation-replacing diesel engines for drawing water
  2. The National Bioenergy Programme, particularly the Biogas Programme, offers Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for setting up biogas plants of different sizes, for power generation, and for thermal applications.
  3. Crop-livestock integrated system promotes agroecological & circulatory agriculture reducing the use of chemical fertilizers 
  4. Natural farming is being given big push in India- which calls for on-farm reliance for inputs, eliminating chemical fertilizers

Participatory Foresight for Sustainable Agrifood Systems Through Agroecology

3 July 2025. Participatory Foresight for Sustainable Agrifood Systems Through Agroecology

This webinar unveiled the key outcomes and tools from the Foresight for Agroecology project, implemented by FAO and CIRAD, with financial support from GIZ on behalf of BMZ (2022 – 2025). 

The project leverages foresight approaches to support transitions towards sustainable agrifood systems through agroecology. Key tools include a global guidance document for decision-makers, as well as key lessons and insights from two participatory foresight exercises conducted in Andhra Pradesh (India) and Senegal. 

The event addressed critical questions: 
  • Are foresight initiatives currently integrating agroecological pathways?
  •  Which actors are involved in foresight exercises, and do they represent a variety of experiences, disciplines, and viewpoints 
  • What metrics and methods are needed to develop scenarios for inclusive and sustainable agrifood systems? 
  • How can foresight approaches evolve to better support transitions towards sustainable agrifood systems?

The Status of Youth in Agrifood Systems

FAO (2025) The Status of Youth in Agrifood Systems 

The world's agrifood systems stand at a crossroads. With 1.3 billion youth globally, the future of food, livelihoods, and economic resilience depends on their participation in agrifood systems. At the same time, agrifood systems need youth to drive productivity, innovation, and sustainability in a crucial and rapidly evolving sector.

FAO's "The Status of Youth in Agrifood Systems" report is a call to action. It presents the most comprehensive, evidence-based analysis of youth in agrifood systems to date, highlighting both the opportunities and structural barriers that shape their engagement. It explores how transforming agrifood systems can enhance decent job opportunities and food security for youth, and how empowered youth can drive this transformation.

It concludes highlighting policy recommendations and areas of investments to foster more equitable and sustainable agrifood systems, where rural youth are both beneficiaries and leaders of change.

Foresight for the transformation of agrifood systems through agroecology

Foresight for the transformation of agrifood systems through agroecology


The document offers practical guidance for integrating foresight with agroecological principles, helping decision-makers and practitioners envision sustainable, resilient futures for agriculture. 

  • It frames agroecology not just as a technique, but as a pathway to systemic transformation
  • Emphasizes participatory foresight: involving communities, not just experts
  • Encourages a multi-scale perspective, connecting local practices to global policy shifts



Wednesday, July 2, 2025

FfD4 (4) Game Changers: Role of Remittances & Diaspora Contributions

30 June – 3 July 2025. Seville, Spain. Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4)


30 June 2025. Seville. From FfD4 Commitments to Actions: Maximizing Remittances and Diaspora Investments towards Financing Development


This side-event provided a platform to reflect on the growing recognition of remittances and diaspora investment to sustainable development in countries of origin. With global remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) surpassing US$685 billion in 2024, exceeding foreign direct investment and over three times the volume of official development assistance, these private financial flows have become indispensable in the global financing landscape, particularly in rural areas where poverty and vulnerability are most concentrated.

Ministers and high-level representatives from IFAD, the European Commission, Italy, Spain, Guatemala, the Philippines and Senegal shared their national experiences and forward-looking actions to mobilize and maximize the impact of remittances and diaspora investment. The session also showcased concrete commitments aligned with FfD4 outcomes, including the signing of a new partnership agreement between IFAD and the EU focused on diaspora investment
, financial inclusion and climate resilience.

The session “Game Changers: Role of Remittances & Diaspora Contributions” explored how remittances and diaspora investments have emerged as transformative forces in global development, far surpassing traditional financing mechanisms like ODA (Official Development Assistance) and FDI (Foreign Direct Investment).

Expert speakers explored the transformative role of remittances and diaspora engagement — recognising them as true game-changers, not afterthoughts:
  • Ms. Faith Kobusingye Mugambwa, Programme Coordinator, Umurenge SACCO Automation & Consolidation Project, Ministry of Finance & Economic Planning, Rwanda
  • Ms. Lanto RAHAJARIZAFY, Director General for Development Partnership & the Diaspora, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Madagascar
  • Mr. Muyangwa Muyangwa, Director General, National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA), Zambia
  • Mr. Jaona Ravaloson, Head of Mission, Meso Capital Madagascar Funds

Read the Financing Policy Brief: Recommendations for FfD4, The role of remittances and diaspora investments in financing the SDGs # 5 pp.
Beyond remittances, migrants also invest back home and contribute substantial human and financial capital in the form of skills and networks into their countries of origin.
Key Themes and Focus Areas
  • Recognition of Growth & Scale: In 2024, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) reached a staggering US $685 billion, outweighing FDI (~US $435 billion) and tripling ODA (~US $211 billion) feps-europe.eu+3linkedin.com+3ffremittances.org+3.
  • Policy Commitments: Discussions were anchored in the draft outcome document of FfD4, “Compromiso de Sevilla”, which urged governments to: reduce remittance fees (targeting < 3% by 2030), promote digital remittance channels., improve financial inclusion and literacy (especially in rural areas), encourage diaspora investment.
Thematic Highlights
  • Showcasing national experiences (e.g., Spain, Italy, Guatemala, the Philippines, Senegal).
  • Highlighting the EU–IFAD partnership on diaspora investment and climate resilience. 
  • From Commitments to Action. Emphasis on converting high-level pledges into concrete initiatives across digital finance, diaspora engagement, and rural development. ffremittances.org


30 June 2025. Unlocking, Scaling, and Repurposing Finance for Food Systems Transformation: The Strategic Role of International Financial Institutions (IFIs)


High-level speakers from governments, donor agencies, and multilateral organizations assessed progress made in financing sustainable food systems since the 2021 Summit, and identify opportunities and practical solutions to unlock, scale, and repurpose funding. Through data-driven insights, the session pledged for game-changing investments for food systems transformation.

It featured heads of key International Financial Institutions. The UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed launched the Food Systems Summit +4 (FSS+4) Dialogues, in the lead-up to the UN Food Systems Summit in July in Addis Ababa.

1 July 2025. Harnessing remittances and diaspora investment as innovative financing for development


Over the past 2 years FCDO and IOM have been working to maximise the contributions of remittances and diaspora investment to development on corridors between the UK and East Africa including Kenya and Somalia, working with MTOs and diaspore to bring down remittance costs and stimulate diaspora investment.
  • Amy Pope. IOM Director General
  • H.E. Bihi Iman Egeh, Minister of Finance, Somalia
  • Latest global remittance data: Dilip Ratha, Lead Economist, Migration and Remittances, MIGA, World Bank  (online)
  • Reducing remittances costs UK to East Africa: Killian Clifford, Remittances, diaspora investment and development finance lead, IOM

Panel discussion – The remittance dividend: mobilizing diaspora capital for development – learnings and experiences
  • Killian Clifford, IOM (moderator)
  • Louise Walker, Head of Private Sector and Capital Markets Department, FCDO
  • Prof. Gibril Faal, OBE, Director - GK Partners, LSE visiting professor, UK
  • José Filomeno de Carvalho Dias Monteiro, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Regional Integration and Minister for Communities, Cabo Verde (tbc)

2 July 2025. Investing in the Future: Financing School Feeding as a Cornerstone for Ending
Hunger, Building Resilience and Promoting Development



This side event (Organized by: WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil, Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), FNDE, RAES, and SFI/LGI–EDC) explored how well-financed and nationally integrated school feeding programmes can serve as strategic tools to achieve food security, improve education, promote gender equality, and drive inclusive rural development.

It included keynote presentations, country case studies (including Brazil’s PNAE), and an interactive panel with representatives from Latin America, Africa, and global initiatives. It also showcase the work of key platforms like RAES, the Sustainable Financing Initiative (SFI), and the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.

GFAiR's Forgotten Food Consortium was represented by Maureen Duru of Foodbridge.

She spoke on the contributions of diasporas as agrofood entrepreneurs, custodians of the African food heritage and development actors. She gave examples of different projects led by diasporas innovating the African food and also as consumers,  how the diaspora has been supporting the African indigenous food systems through what it eats.

She gave an interview at casa devex about the initiatives of Foodbridge. At the school feeding side event she stressed:
  • the need to include indigenous food crops in school feeding programmes 
  • the importance of spending some of the budget for infrastructure on school farms 
  • the support to agricultural undergraduates to ensure sustainability even if the funding stops.

"One of the highlights of attending events like FfD4 is the chance to meet with inspiring individuals and motivated sector leaders; especially those who may not know how their work benefits small organizations that aren’t always visible.  It was a pleasure to meet Mr. Jean Van Wetter , CEO of Enabel and also have a conversation. My colleagues and I informed him of the relevance of our roles as African diaspora development actors." Maureen Duru of Foodbridge 


2 July 2025. From FfD4 Commitments to Action: Unlocking Partnerships between IFIs and NDBs to Increase Agri‑Financing for Rural Transformation. 

This high-level event convened by IFAD, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the European Investment Bank (EIB) shed a spotlight on a key missing link: scaling up collaboration between International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and National Development Banks (NDBs) to drive investment in agriculture and rural transformation.

The session highlighted how these partnerships can unlock long-term, low-cost financing for country-level priorities, particularly in food systems, where NDBs play a pivotal role as domestic investors. With a focus on concrete examples and lessons from IFAD’s Agri PDB Platform, speakers explored how coordinated financing efforts can boost food security, create rural jobs, and ensure NDBs are more strategically embedded within the international financial system.


FfD4 (3) Scaling solutions: Improving food and nutrition governance in the Sahel and West Africa

30 June - 3 July 2025. Seville, Spain. The 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4). This global summit is convened by the UN to mobilize and align public and private financing for sustainable development, with a focus on tackling poverty, climate change, inequality, and food system transformation.


2 July 2025. OECD side event: Scaling solutions: Improving food and nutrition governance in the Sahel and West Africa 


Focus: Strengthening governance, business models, and regional partnerships to build resilient food systems in Sahel/West Africa. Organised by the OECD/Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC) Secretariat.

Over the past decade, the Sahel and West Africa region has experienced an increase in cereal and root crop production per capita. However, food and nutrition security has worsened, with an additional 30 million people affected in the last five years. This situation demonstrates that agricultural growth alone is insufficient to improve food security which is driven by complex, interconnected factors.

The SWAC Secretariat, in collaboration with the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), facilitates the Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA) under the political leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). Through the RPCA network, the SWAC Secretariat has recently developed essential governance tools for food security and nutrition. 
  • Moderator: Sidy Gueye NIANG, Programme Manager, Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat (OECD/SWAC)
  • Dr Issoufou BAOUA, Director General, Agrhymet Centre, CILSS
  • Ms Bintia Stephen TCHICAYA, Representative ad interim in Liberia and Programme Leader for Social Protection for Africa, FAO
  • Ms Cecilia García GASALLA, Director of Cooperation with Africa, the Arab World and Asia, AECID
  • Dr Conrad REIN, Secretary General, Global Flagship Initiative for Food Security, AGFUND
  • Mr Philippe THOMAS, Head of Sector for Crisis and Resilience of Food and Agricultural Systems, European Union
  • Mr Jean Pierre SENGHOR, former Executive Secretary of the Food Security National Council, Senegal
  • Mr Ahmet BENANE, CONACILSS, Mauritania

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

FfD4 (2) New research, innovative financing pathways, and dynamic policy solutions.


    1 July 2025  Prioritizing financing for food system transformation: Options and trade‑offs


    Focus: Aligning public and private capital with sustainable, resilient, nutritious food systems. It presents investment frameworks, green bonds, blended finance incentives, and value‑chain finance to drive sustainable agri‑food transformation - by CGIAR & IFPRI.


    The session opened with the presentation of new CGIAR research that offers a decision-making framework to guide strategic investment in science, innovation, and institutional capacity and market incentives needed to induce farmers and food sector operators to adopt improved sustainable technologies and practices. 

    It then turned to an evidence-based policy discussion on how to (a) create new incentive structures to reallocate existing finance, including through the repurposing of existing public support to agriculture, and, (b) leverage new, alternative financing instruments, such as blended finance mechanisms, incentives for de-risking finance, green bonds, and private value-chain finance, aiming to provide adequate finance for sustainable agrifood system transformation.
    • Johan Swinnen, Director General, IFPRI
    • Representative Agricultural Research Council (ARC) South Africa
    • James Thurlow, Director, Foresight and Policy Modeling (FPM), IFPRI; CGIAR Policy Innovations Program
    • Ruth Hill, Director, Markets, Trade, and Institutions, IFPRI; CGIAR Policy Innovations Program
    • Godefroy Grosjean, CGIAR Hub for Sustainable Finance (ImpactSF)

      CGIAR needs to give commercial banks a better access to data, in terms of assessing risk and understand the risks across their portfolio. We have a role to play in bringing data and science-based solutions for managing risk and impact reporting, and reducing the transaction costs of doing that.

      The CGIAR Hub for Sustainable Finance (ImpactSF) supports banks by providing its AI-powered tool—the ImpactSF Analyzer—which integrates CGIAR’s scientific data, climate‑smart agriculture insights, and local agricultural datasets into customized risk models and portfolio dashboards. This empowers banks to more accurately assess climate and environmental risks across agro-loan portfolios, enabling differentiated pricing, improved due diligence, and the development of new green financial products based on location-specific scenario analysis. The ImpactSF Analyzer, is currently being piloted by multiple banks in Southeast Asia and Africa. 
    Panel on impact investment
    • Moderator Clemens Breisinger, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI; Interim Director, Policy Innovations Science Program
    • Deniz Harut is CEO and Managing Director of Agri3 fund. The mission of AGRI3 Fund is to mobilise additional public and private capital at scale (to support sustainable agriculture and avert deforestation). Prior to joining AGRI3, Deniz served as an Executive Director at Pollination Group, leading initiatives to transition portfolios
      towards net-zero and nature-positive investments. At Standard Chartered Bank, she held various senior positions for over seventeen years. 
    • Roel Messie, Chief Executive Officer IDH Investment Management | Impact Investing. The EUR 100 million IDH Farmfit Fund wants to empower 3 million farmers with the goal of a 50% income increase.
    • Sylvain Goupille. Founder and Managing Director, October Fund. Entrepreneur for climate action, nature-based solutions and biodiversity "Blending is a nightmare to operate and not a great success for impact"

    Extract Q & A

    GFAiR @James Thurlow: The 26-28 May 2025. Polokwane, Limpopo, South Africa. G20 Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS) gave special attention to the importance of nutrition-sensitive agriculture, biodiversity conservation, and soil health. https://paepard.blogspot.com/2025/06/g20-meeting-of-agricultural-chief.html How desirable  is it to redirect & repurpose funding from staple crops research to Opportunity Crops research: forgotten foods and neglected and underutilised species (NUS) + farmers’ varieties/landraces (FV/LR)

    Petronella Chaminuka (Agricultural Research Council ARC South Africa): Is it desirable to move away from staple crops as staple food are far more affordable for poor populations?

    James Thurlow emphasized that the analysis does not dismiss the importance of staple food crops for poor households—these crops continue to play a significant, pro-poor role. However, the focus of the analysis is on the relative rate of return from various types of agricultural investments, rather than their absolute importance. Twenty years ago, investing in staple crops like maize in regions such as Southern Africa was clearly the most effective strategy for poverty reduction. This was largely because many farmers were subsistence producers, directly consuming what they grew, which created a tight linkage between agricultural production and household food security.

    However, the context has since changed. Markets have become more developed, and farmers are increasingly engaged in commercial agriculture, selling their produce rather than just consuming it. This shift opens up new pathways for poverty reduction that extend beyond staple crops. Investments in other value chains and agricultural products—potentially higher-value or more market-oriented—can now also deliver strong poverty-reducing impacts. The analysis, therefore, looks at how different investment strategies compare in terms of their effectiveness in today’s more dynamic and market-connected agricultural landscape.

    Related: "Impact Investing: From Pioneering Innovations to Scalable Solutions"


    #FFD4 International Business Forum


    2 July 2025 | 8:30–10:00 CET
    📍Room: Madrid E/F, Seville
    Register🔗 https://lnkd.in/gGAgfsik


    This session will examine novel financial tools such as liquidity tools, aggregator platforms, outcome-based finance, and risk mitigation approaches.

    Speakers include: