SNV at AFS Forum 2025: Full agenda of our sessions and youth activities
Improving youth opportunities in employment and entrepreneurship remains a long-term priority we are deeply committed to.
At the Africa Food Systems Forum 2025, we will reaffirm this commitment in alignment with the African Union’s CAADP agenda which calls for a holistic, systems-based approach to agri-food transformation.
This means advancing integrated approaches that foster cross-sector collaboration and prioritise local leadership to strengthen resilience and improve livelihoods.
From 30 August to 5 September, we’ll join partners in Dakar, Senegal, under the theme: Africa’s Youth: Leading Collaboration, Innovation, and Implementation of Agri-Food Systems Transformation.
Venue: CICAD & Diamniadio Expo Center, Dakar, Senegal.
Join us for our sessions
Discover SNV’s full line-up at AFS Forum 2025. Start with the sessions on 31 August and 2 September below, or jump straight to the highlights for:
Session: Sunday, 31 August
Facing climate change with improved nutrition: Policy challenges and opportunities to protect and develop traditional food systems
Sunday, 31 August | 14:30-16:00 GMT
This session explores the investment challenges and opportunities in protecting and developing indigenous and traditional food systems under climate change. As climate impacts intensify, these systems, rich in biodiversity and local knowledge, face disruption, threatening both nutrition and cultural heritage. The discussion will highlight the critical need for localised climate information to adapt food practices to conditions never seen before, and the risks of scaling solutions without grounding them in local realities. Participants will examine how traditional knowledge can inform resilient, nutrition-sensitive adaptation strategies and how policy and finance frameworks must evolve to support bottom-up approaches.
Location: Oval room
Organisers: SNV , AGRA, Global Citizens, Kick-Start, CGIAR, HKI, SDC, Tufts and Cornell University
Sessions: Tuesday, 2 September
Feeding futures: How school meals drive nutrition, markets, and equity
Tuesday, 2 September | 08:30-10:00 GMT
School feeding programmes play a crucial role in advancing nutrition, while simultaneously strengthening local agricultural markets and promoting equity. By sourcing food from local farmers, these programmes not only ensure that children receive nutritious meals but also support the agricultural community. This approach fosters sustainable farming practices, boosts local economies, and creates a more equitable food system. Through school feeding initiatives, we can build a healthier future for our children, creating demand for underutilized nutritious foods, and a more resilient agricultural sector.
Location: Press Conference Room
Organisers: AGRA, Rockefeller, SNV, Food 4 Education, AUDAD / NEPAD, Welthungerhilfe, IDRC
Re-imagine the future of leadership and catalysts for food systems transformation
Tuesday, 2 September | 08:30-10:00 GMT
In this interactive speed dating, panel discussion and strategic foresight workshop, youth leaders, experts and more experienced experts (investors, policymakers, corporates, private sector, academia, development partners) will come together to re-imagine the future of leadership in food systems, facilitate dialogue and create the connections needed to foster sustainable systems transformation.
We will unpack the four critical catalysts for food systems transformation including: ecosystem coordination, economic opportunities for youth, intergenerational dialogue and youth leadership.
Location: Knowledge Hub – Stage 2
Organisers: SNV, IFAD, Netherlands Food Partnership (NFP), UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship (ECE)
From idea to investment: How technical assistance and finance unlocks youth-led innovation
Tuesday, 2 September | 10:30-12:00 GMT
Young entrepreneurs across West Africa are leading innovative agri-food solutions in the face of compounding challenges including climate change, food insecurity, and economic inequality. Yet access to finance remains a persistent barrier. This session will explore how targeted support – particularly technical assistance – can bridge the gap between promising ideas and investment readiness. The event will feature real-world examples of youth-led businesses using innovation to scale impact. Speakers will share practical experiences on building capacity, improving bankability, and unlocking blended finance. Youth voices will be at the heart of the conversation, while ecosystem actors reflect on how enabling environments and public-private partnerships can help de-risk early-stage enterprises. The session aims to catalyse new collaborations and mobilise inclusive investment across the region.
Location: Press Conference Room
Organisers: Rabo Foundation, SNV, Investisseurs & Partenaires, APIX, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Agriterra
GoGettaz Finale Pitch
Tuesday, 2 September | 11:30-13:00 GMT
The GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition is a showcase for Africa’s cutting-edge agri-food businesses. Finalists will have the opportunity to present their businesses on stage at the AFS Forum.
The annual flagship GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition has activated a community of 17,000+ young founders/co-founders of high-potential agrifood businesses in Africa, all with the ambition to create cutting edge businesses, leveraging new technologies including climate adaptation innovations and access to markets, to eventually make Africa the breadbasket of the world.
Location: Youth Dome
Organisers: AFS Forum, SNV, Yara International, Econet, AGRA, Mastercard Foundation, SACAU
Future-proofing West African food systems: Unlocking the potential of climate adaptation for empowering Africa’s youth
Tuesday, 2 September | 18:00-19:30 GMT
Responding to climate change challenges in African agriculture and food systems requires a paradigm shift from business-as-usual to a transformative approach that yields actionable solutions and outcomes. This session will present a transformative approach illustrated with cases of gender and youth inclusion in the scaling of climate-smart agriculture and climate information services in West and Central Africa. It will present how science-based solutions and innovative partnerships have been vital to successful development outcomes and discuss lessons learned for scaling across Africa. The goal is to inform the wider AR4D communities, development practitioners, and funders of agricultural research in Africa.
Location: Thematic Room
Organisers: SNV, ILRI, CGIAR, AGRA, ILRI
Special side event: Powering resilient food systems: Building a movement
Tuesday, 2 September | 18:00-19:30 GMT
A growing movement of partners are working to transform the agri-food system in Africa by enabling ecosystem actors - in particular, smallholder farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises - to adopt regenerative practices powered by renewable energy.
Our vision: to achieve renewable energy-driven resilient food systems where people have equitable opportunities to thrive sustainably.
Join us in building the movement for resilient, renewable, and regenerative food systems in Africa.
Location: Room B1, Four Points hotel, Dakar, Senegal
Organisers: SNV, IKEA Foundation, Acumen, Efficiency for Access, GOGLA, The Food and Land use Coalition, Wasafiri
Sessions: Wednesday, 3 September
Conversation on energy and food systems transformation: Green energy - powering and investing in food systems value chains
Wednesday, 3 September | 14:00-16:00 GMT
The intertwining of agri-food systems, energy, and climate offers a unique opportunity to reinvent the continent’s approach to feeding its growing population while realizing inclusive economic growth, employment generation, and development targets, i.e., nutrition and food security. These three aspects, when integrated, can serve as transformative forces to enhance productivity, reduce environmental stress, and empower communities. The absence of reliable energy sources hampers irrigation, cold storage, and food processing, contributing to post-harvest losses and inefficient use of resources. Further sub-Saharan Africa accounts for less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions yet faces disproportionate climate impacts. Addressing these challenges demands a holistic approach that integrates climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy solutions, and sustainable practices to create mutually reinforcing interlinkages between agriculture and clean energy that transform the continent’s agri-food systems
The session will present the latest DRE solutions, offering evidence-based research on commercially viable business models and experiences where such DRE solutions are proving transformative. In addition, the session will showcase methodologies and approaches by governments and development partners that are incentivizing the scaling up of a sustainable transformative market, promoting cross-sector coordination, and mobilizing high-level commitment through a shared Call to Action.
Location: Oval Room
Organisers: AGRA, GOGLA, SNV
Thematic session: Regenerating Africa: How young agripreneurs are leading food systems transformation
Wednesday, 3 September | 12:00-13:30 GMT
The session will highlight the role of African youth agripreneurs in advancing agroecology as a transformative pathway for sustainable food systems. Through an interactive dialogue format, real-world case studies, and cross-sectoral engagement, the session will demonstrate how agroecological principles—diversification, soil regeneration, circular economies, and local governance—are being put into action by young innovators. It will also unpack the enabling conditions needed—such as policy alignment, access to finance, and knowledge networks—to mainstream youth-led agroecological solutions across the continent.
Location: Thematic Room
Organisers: Biovision Foundation, SNV
Sessions: Thursday, 4 September
Powering agriculture, accelerating action for decentralized renewable energy in food systems
Thursday, 4 September | 08:30-10:00 GMT
As per the recent Kampala Declaration by the CAADP, agriculture requires a complementary approach that integrates energy, market access, among others. This session explores the potential of Renewable Energy (RE), particularly the decentralized renewable energy (DRE) solutions, to power transformative change in African food systems. With climate risks intensifying and energy access still limited, particularly in rural areas, integrating solar and other DRE solutions into food systems offers a path to sustainability, resilience, and inclusive growth.
Drawing on insights and experiences from leading countries, the event will spotlight innovative financing mechanisms, cross-sector partnership models, and coordinated strategies that align DRE solutions with food system transformation.
Location: Knowledge Hub – Stage 1
Organisers: GOGLA, SNV, IKEA Foundation
From margins to mainstream: Recognising the role of pastoralism in food systems transformation
Thursday, 4 September | 08:30-10:00 GMT
It is almost impossible to overstate the importance of pastoralist systems in Africa. Pastoralist systems are a critical source of income and nutrition for over 268 million people across 36 countries. In West Africa, pastoralists produce about 65% of the region’s beef and 75% of its milk. Beyond food, these systems offer social, cultural, and environmental benefits.
This session will make the case for investing in pastoralist food systems, showcase innovations in West African livestock systems and opportunities for the youth and women to contribute, and examine the policy and financing shifts required. It will offer concrete recommendations for AFSF and the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralism.
Location: Oval Room
Organisers: ILRI, IFAD, GIZ, SNV, AU-IBAR
Empowering African youth, women, and farmers for climate action in food systems
Thursday, 4 Sep | 14:30-16:00 GMT
Increasing global temperature and more frequent, intense, and severe extreme weather events are causing more displacements and disrupting the livelihoods of millions, placing considerable stress on Africa’s agriculture sector. African youth are recognised as both vulnerable to climate change and strong advocates for climate action.
At the upcoming ‘Trio convention’ in Brazil, youth are expected to present disruptive ideas, business opportunities, and investment plans for climate action. By exchanging policies, financing mechanisms, and innovations that address climate change mitigation and adaption, this session aims to well-equip African youth to negotiate for Africa food systems transformation on the global stage.
Location: Thematic Room
Organisers: AGRA, SNV, CGIAR, AfDB
Inside the Youth Dome: Voices, insights, and opportunities
Step into the Youth Dome to engage with diverse voices, fresh insights, and meaningful opportunities. Join the conversation and help shape the future of agri-food systems.
#YouthEmpowerment
Masterclass session
Unlocking technical assistance in Africa
Wednesday, 3 September | 13:00-15:00 GMT
A dynamic masterclass designed to demystify Technical Assistance (TA) and its power to unlock growth for African agribusinesses.
Tailored for SMEs and youth, and delivered by investors and development actors grounded in practice, this interactive session will explore how TA supports investment readiness, drives inclusive business growth, and de-risks finance in climate-resilient value chains.
Through real-world case studies, funding insights, and practical guidance, participants will discover how to access TA, what it involves, and how to equip businesses with the tools they need to effectively access and leverage technical assistance. Participants will also gain insight into the roles and responsibilities of participating in Technical Assistance.
If you're aiming to scale your business impact in agri-food systems, this is your roadmap to smarter, more sustainable investment.
Location: Knowledge Hub – Stage 2
Organisers: IFAD and SNV
