African food entrepreneurs to train women on scaling agribusiness, closing gender gaps in agriculture

The African Food Changemakers (ACF), an organisation that supports agribusiness, has partnered with entrepreneurs in the food sector to empower women across the continent on closing the gender gap in the agriculture sector.

In a statement on Thursday, Cassandra Taiwo, ACF communication officer, said the programme, leading African women in food fellowship (LAWFF), will identify the barriers facing women in the food ecosystem and support efforts in improving agricultural productivity.

The training is in collaboration with Skoll Foundation, a non-profit organisation, focusing on global poverty eradication.

Taiwo said LAWFF was launched by ACF on March 3, adding that the fellowship programme will culminate at the Africa food system forum summit in Tanzania in September.

“Women face significant gender-specific barriers, including limited access to financing, information, training, and societal obstacles. These challenges hinder productivity in the agrifood system, contributing to underperformance in developing countries,” the statement reads.

“Recognising the need to support women’s progress in the food ecosystem and raise awareness of their role as changemakers in the African agricultural sector, African Food Changemakers (AFC) collaborated with the Skoll Foundation to launch the leading African women in food fellowship (LAWFF) programme on March 3, 2023.”

“The LAWFF programme, supported by the Skoll Foundation, aims to amplify, celebrate, champion, and advance the work of female food changemakers in Africa. It offers mentorship, training, peer-to-peer support, increased visibility through strategic media coverage, and connections to AFC partner networks for funding and scaling.”

According to the communication officer, leaders and representatives from different organisations such as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, Africa Region, IITA, AfDB, and the SDG2 Advocacy Hub, selected 27 fellows out of 640 nominations.

Fellows were selected from countries such as Benin, Cameroon, Côte D’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda.

Speaking during the training session, Ndidi Nwuneli, founder and chairperson of the LAWFF, said women in the food ecosystem encounter persistent challenges, noting that urgent training and support are needed to advance their work.

On her part, Aggie Asiimwe Konde, vice-president of programme innovation and delivery at Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) said the effort will give women the opportunity to close gender inequality in the industry.

Konde called for more partnership, adding that “the sooner we begin to collaborate rather than compete, the better we will be able to serve the greater good”.