Heifer International calls for local, youth-led solutions at Africa Food Systems Forum 2025

Nairobi, Kenya – August 25, 2025: With Africa facing a worsening hunger crisis that now affects nearlyone in five people on the continent, Heifer International is calling on governments, investors, and development partners to urgently prioritise youth-led, innovative finance models, andstrengthen locally-driven solutions as urgent levers to transform Africa’s food systems.

The organisation also announced its strategic partnership with and participation in the upcoming AfricaFood Systems Forum (AFSF 2025) taking place in Dakar, Senegal, from August 31 to September 5.

Atthe forum, Heifer will present a transformative approach that supports Africa’s youth to lead agricultural
innovation and shows how local partnerships and creative financing are helping smallholder farmers achieve lasting scalable results.

A Crisis Demanding Bold Action

This year’s forum convenes as new data highlights the scale of the African food and nutrition crisis.

The 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) Report revealed that 307 million people in Africa, nearly one in five, are hungry.

At the report’s launch, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, warned, that the world is “far off track” to meet the goal of ending hunger by 2030.

AFSF, Africa’s premier platform for dialogue and collaboration on food systems transformation, brings together thousands of policymakers, development agencies, farmers, agripreneurs, innovators, investors, and private sector leaders.

This year’s theme ‘Africa’s Youth: Leading Collaboration, Innovation and Implementation of Agri-Food Systems Transformation,’ directly aligns with Heifer’s new strategic direction to foster inclusive, resilient, and sustainable food systems, powered by youth, centered on smallholder farmers.

From Aid to Ecosystem Facilitation Heifer’s strategy differs from traditional donor models through an ecosystem approach that supports youth led innovations, unlocking catalytic finance, and advancing community ownership.

This new approach has shown significant promise.
Through its AYuTe NextGen initiative, Heifer has supported young African innovators developing agritech and climate-smart solutions that are directly improving smallholder farmer productivity. Since its launch in 2021, AYuTe has mobilized over $11 million in catalytic investments and directly supported nearly 100 youth-led agri-tech businesses.

These agritechs have in turn created 23,000 jobs and reached more than 3.5 million smallholder farming households across the continent.
At AFSF 2025, Heifer will present results of how collaborative action and systemic shifts toward inclusivity and sustainability are yielding results.

The organization will also spotlight collaborative financing models that move beyond traditional donor approaches.

A recent benchmark report by Aceli
Africa, featuring the Heifer/Hello Tractor partnership, for instance, highlighted how blended finance and tech-driven mechanization initiatives are improving incomes for hundreds of smallholder farmers, demonstrating scalable pathways sustainable, resilient growth.

“Africa’s food systems demand bold, collaborative action that evolves traditional donor models to meet the continent’s food security needs sustainability and at scale,” said Adesuwa Ifedi, Senior Vice President of Africa Programs at Heifer International.

“At AFSF 2025, we are presenting solutions where blended finance, catalytic capital, and youth-powered innovation converge to drive lasting change for farmers, communities and the continent.