Bashe honoured with African Agricultural Leadership Award

KIGALI, Rwanda: Former Tanzania Minister of Agriculture and current Member of Parliament for Nzega Urban, Hussein Bashe, has been honoured with the Policy Leadership & Government Partnership Award at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF) 2026 Gala Dinner held in Kigali, Rwanda.

The award was presented as government leaders, heads of international organisations, senior officials, business leaders, investors and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector from across Africa and beyond gathered in Kigali to discuss investment and transformation of Africa’s food systems.

The AFSF 2026, marking the 20th edition of the Africa Food Systems Forum, has brought together more than 5,000 participants from over 50 countries to deliberate on investment in food systems, youth employment, trade, climate resilience and food security.

During the forum, Rwandan President Paul Kagame called on Africa’s youth to look beyond primary agricultural production and tap into opportunities across the wider food value chain, including inputs, technology, irrigation, storage, transportation, processing and markets.

 Bashe’s contribution

According to the award citation, Bashe was recognised for his contribution to advancing Tanzania’s agricultural transformation agenda, particularly in youth employment, agricultural commercialisation and value addition, irrigation, mechanisation, access to land and finance, as well as strengthening government partnerships with private-sector stakeholders.

Bashe began serving in the Ministry of Agriculture as a Deputy Minister in 2019* before being appointed Minister of Agriculture in 2022, a position he held until 2025.

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During his tenure, initiatives including Agenda 10/30 and the Building a Better Tomorrow (BBT) programme became key components of efforts to promote agriculture as a business and expand opportunities for young people in the sector.

His tenure also saw the strengthening of Tanzania’s digital agricultural input subsidy system, aimed at improving the targeting and delivery of subsidised inputs to farmers.

The award was presented during the special Gala Dinner themed Celebrating 20 Years of Impact and Projecting the Future, held as part of celebrations marking two decades of the Africa Food Systems Forum.

Hussein Bashe was not present at the forum to receive the award in person.