The 21st CAADP Partnership Platform and 16th Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS) were held in Kigali, Rwanda, from October 29-31, 2025, gathering high-end policymakers, private sector players, youth, and women leaders to deliberate on transforming Africa's agrifood systems.
During the event, RYAF member Samuel Uwihanganye-the Managing Director of Rainbow Health Food Ltd-was on a panel session on "Policy, Institutional and Operational Challenges Limiting Competitive Agri-Processing (Value Addition) in Africa."
Rainbow Health Food Ltd is producing Monti Composite Flour a nutritious porridge made with maize, sorghum, soybean, wheat, and millet sourced from Rwandan smallholder farmers. The company also makes Monti 7in1 Bio-fortified High Iron Beans Porridge, which is targeted at combating iron deficiency and malnutrition among children and mothers, thus contributing to enhanced nutrition and healthier communities.
In another session, "Unlocking Women’s Potential in Agrifood Systems through the 3Ps (Proofs, Policies, and Partnerships)"Sakina Usengimana the Chairperson of the Rwanda Youth in Agribusiness Forum (RYAF) and Youth Representative at the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF), encouraged people to move from discussion to meaningful action.
"Across the region, women still face systemic barriers to finance-collateral requirements to complex grant processes. They are not asking for sympathy; they are asking for fair, structured opportunities to compete. We must go beyond annual conversations in meeting rooms and into the fields where women are producing every day. That is where we understand their realities, adjust the risk structures, and co-design solutions that last".
Usengimana went further to argue for a radical change in perception about agriculture among the youth.
"We must radically change the image of agriculture. We keep saying youth must be involved, but that requires changing the narrative. We are rejecting the old perception of farming as mere survival. We see agriculture as a sector that must be attractive, innovative, productive, and profitable.
The youth cannot enter or stay in agriculture without profitability. In Rwanda, we are in an active transformation of that image, to show how farmers apply technology, build enterprises, access markets, and take pride in feeding the nation and the world."
The Rwandan Government, through its Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC) and AUDA-NEPAD, organized this high-level forum. The theme was “From Malabo to Kampala: Accelerating Just, Resilient Agrifood Systems Transformation for Nutrition and Sustainable Growth.” This meeting signaled a strategic shift from the Malabo Declaration (2014) to the recently adopted CAADP Strategy and Ten-Year Action Plan (2026–2035), and laid out a bold and ambitious roadmap for the transformation of agriculture in Africa over the next decade.
The presence of RYAF members at this continental forum affirmed Rwanda's emerging leadership in youth-led agribusiness transformation and policy dialogue designed to build inclusive, innovative, and resilient food systems in Africa.
RYAF Communication Team