Africa lags the rest of the World in its agricultural production statistics.

Critically, the sub-Saharan Africa region countries report low yields from their agricultural activities across the board – be it in the grains, dairy and livestock, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables etc – due to low utilisation of appropriate technologies, inconsistant and patchy usage of the right inputs and seeds, poor management systems at the farm level, among many others.

Experts believe that if African countries  can take advantage of its vast land and water resources, tap into new technologies, adopt the best agricultural practices and tap into its rich human resource, it can feed itself and become a key supplier of agricultural produce to the rest of the World.

At the Africa Future Food Summit, you will hear from influential business leaders, multinational and regional corporates, government agencies, non-profits and academic/research institutions on the latest technologies, ideas and concepts that will enable African countries mainstream regenerative agricultural practices and boost agricultural production and within its borders for local, regional and international markets

The Ukraine-Russia war, conflicts and military coups and the lingering negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to have negative effects on food and nutrition security in Africa.

Food imports into Africa is set to surpass US$100 billion by 2030, if adequate measures to enhance local production of basic food items such as meat, milk, grains, legumes, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables are not taken, to address the production gaps within Africa.

Africa faces a bleak future in its ability to feed its fast growing, rapidly urbanising and increasingly young population, which is set to hit 1.7 billion by 2030, with further increases to 2.5 billion by 2050.

To make it worse, some of the countries which are projected to have the highest populations and high rates of urbanisation in future such as Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Egypt, DRC and many others are also the most food insecure, relying on vast quantities of food imports from overseas.

Further, Africa is not only food insecure – it also faces one of the bissgest challenge in availing foods that are safe to eat, exercabating an already dire situation.

The 2023 Global Nutrition Report paints a poor picture of African countries, showing patchy conformance in child mortality, child stunting, birth weight and child wasting across the board, with only a few countries on track to meet set nutritional targets by 2030.

At the Africa Future Food Summit, you will discover the initiatives that will enhance Africa’s food and agriculture sector resilience to climate change, improve food security and safety.

The future of the food and agriculture industry in Africa is in dire need of injection of new technologies to enable the Continent to meet the evolving and increasing demand for more affordable, nutritious and safe food.

From regular technologies of growing and cultivating food, to new food storage, processing, packaging and distribution, to new technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and digitalisation of supply chains, the Continent is in dire need of the appropriate technologies to power its present and critically, its future

The Continent’s food of the future will require the adoption of new concepts of food formulation and recipe development that will change the entire landscape of what food will be consumed across Africa – with some of the innovations such as plant-based foods and bioengineered foods probably becoming common – if they survive the unforeseen changes and disruptions coming our way in the next two devades!!

At the Africa Future Food Summit, you will meet start-ups, medium and large food and agriculture companies as well as some of the World’s leading suppliers of new technologies – as they showcase their new innovations that are at the cutting edge of the future.

The triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution affects Africa disproportionately to the rest of the World.

New approaches on how to manage this triple crisis are desperately needed across Africa

Further, the challenge of food loss and waste is a huge problem in Africa, with estimates by the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) that 30-50% of the total agricultural production is lost at the farm or wasted in the later stages of the supply chain.

This, despite Africa being the most food insecure region in the World!

Poor agricultural practices, lack of food storage and distribution infrastructure and patchy and inconsistent trade opportunities make Africa’s losses even more painful.

Africa’s circular economy environment faces many challenges, including regulatory bottle-necks, lack of knowledge and inadequate new technologies.

At the Africa Future Food Summit, you will discover the latest ideas on the circular economy, opportunities around designing for circularity, eliminating loss, waste and pollution, and regenerating nature solutions.

Africa’s vast land mass, poor infrastructure and a myriad of trade barriers, both tariff and non-tariff, have led to low volumes of traded agricultural and packaged food products between countries and regions in Africa.

While it is appreciable that Africa exports vast quantities of agricultural raw materials such as coffee, tea, cocoa, fruits and vegetables and other food products especially to Europe, Americas and Asia, legacy issues hamper pan-African trade in agricultural goods – hampering the opportunities to process and package these same commodities for local, regional and global markets.

And despite increasing demand for these commodities and packaged food products in Africa, the challenges with regional trade  in Africa remain, with poor logistical infrastructure and lack of coordination hindering trade within Africa.

At the Africa Future Food Summit, you will gain new insights into the opportunities and challenges of availing Africa’s abundant agricultural produce and packaged food products to local, regional and global markets.

Africa’s growing population, increasing urbanisation and incredible changes in food habits – including the need for affordable, nutritious and convenient foods – offers new opportunities for entrepreneurship to thrive in Africa.

However, despite these opportunities, the gap in financing for start-ups and established businesses to cater for the rising demand for agricultural produce and processed and packaged foods, is increasing by the day – be it funding from individuals, families, financial service providers, private equity, venture capital, grants or angel investors.

At the Africa Future Food Summit, you will discover the initiatives and programs that shall help provide Africa’s food and agriculture sector value chain actors with opportunities to access new sources of financing and the investments that will ensure that entrepreneurs in Africa can grow, store, process, pack and distribute food products to feed its rapidly growing and urbanising population.

Learn, network and discover the most inspiring ideas on the future of the food and agro industry in Africa at the daily conference sessions addressed by change makers from Africa and beyond . . .

Discover the latest technologies and ideas you can adopt for your business at the Expo Hall, which will bring together global giants, regional leaders and local leading enterprises and start-ups.