Apply for the Africa food fellowship program

Are you passionate about being a champion for fairer, healthier, regenerative food systems?

If you answered any of this questions in the affirmative then this is the opportunity for you.

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Apply For the Food Systems Leadership Program.

Join 40 leaders from Agri Finance, Aquaculture and Horticulture on a world class leadership development programme hosted by Wageningen University & Research, and Wasafiri Consulting.

Why join?

Join a professional network of food systems leaders across the continent.

Gain cutting-edge knowledge on food system change through expert faculty and mentors.

Acquire world-class tools and capabilities to lead systems change.

Learn from leading innovators, influencers and practitioners.

Build your profile to inspire other change makers to action.

Who we’re looking for

Are you a leader fuelled by an ambition for impact and a hunger for action? Are you working in the fields of Agri- Finance, Aquaculture and Horticulture?

Requirements

Do you meet the following requirements:

45 years of age or younger.

A legal resident of Kenya (non-nationals are also eligible).

Fluent reading and writing English. Willing and able to commit 4 hours per week.

Please note that the participation fee for this programme is 94,800.00 Kenyan Shillings, payable in two installments.

A limited number of scholarships are available.

Applications Open For Second Kenyan Cohort of the African Food Fellowship

The African Food Fellowship is delighted to announce that applications for the 2022 Kenyan cohort of its flagship Food Systems Leadership Programme are now open.

Focus areas

This cohort will take place in Kenya and Rwanda, here are the focus areas

KENYA FOCUS AREAS

Agri-Finance

Horticulture

Aquaculture

RWANDA FOCUS AREAS

Food Entrepreneurship

Access To Nutritious Food

Sustainable Land Use

initiative for inclusive and regenerative foo futures on the continent.

It targets emerging leaders from the civic, public and private circles to jointly transform Africa’s food systems and ensure equitable availability and access to healthy and sustainable food for all.

Wageningen University & Research and Wasafiri Consulting initiated this fellowship to help deliver progress promise in the 2014 Malabo Declaration, which aim to end hunger on the continent by 2025, an to promote intra-Africa food exchange through the continental free trade area.

Support

The initiative enjoys support from the IKEA Foundation.

Our Programmes

Food systems in Africa face many complex and connected challenges, such as malnutrition, climate change, inequality and the overuse of natural resources. These are not just challenges for the government and private sector. They require effective leadership at every level, from every perspective, to understand the systemic causes and make the difficult decisions needed for system-wide change. Our vision is of a continent-wide fellowship of African food systems leaders who actively contribute to food systems transformation up to and beyond the SDGs. Food system leaders will be empowered by a world-class systems leadership programme. More than this, they will be enabled in their actions through an incubation support programme while also sharing knowledge and passion for change through a professional food

systems leaders movement.

Food Systems Leadership Programme

The African Food Systems Leadership Programme is a 10-month Fellowship bringing together emerging leaders from the private, public, and civic sectors to shape the ambitions, agendas and market dynamics that are needed to transform Africa’s food systems.

The programme was launched in Kenya in May 2021, with an inaugural cohort of 30 mid-career professionals, ten each for the three impact areas of Aquaculture, Horticulture and Agri-finance.

It expanded to Rwanda in November with 30 Fellows in three thematic areas: Sustainable Land Use and Labour, Access to Nutritious Food and Food Entrepreneurship.

African Fellowship Network

Our aim is to catalyze a continental network of national chapters working to common principles as a ‘one-stop shop’ for food systems knowledge and action support. It will ensure inspiring, informed and influential peer connectivity, spur action and actionable ideas, and offer a forum for solutions.

Systems Change Services

Great ideas need help to grow into breakthrough initiatives. We will provide tailored, targeted support to systems-change entrepreneurs along their journey from innovation to incubation to transformational initiatives. We can act as trusted adviser, guide and collaborator, helping to design, incubate and scale great ideas.

Why Do We Offer This Programme?

Food systems in Africa face many complex and connected challenges: malnutrition, climate change, inequality and the overuse of natural resources to give a few examples. These are not just challenges for the government and private sector.

They require effective leadership at every level, from every perspective, to make the difficult decisions needed for system-wide change.

Wageningen University and Research and

Wasafiri Consulting, with support from IKEA

Foundation, have come together to create a

unique systems-leadership development and

fellowship programme for Africa’s food systems

leaders. We need leaders in the food system who

see the bigger picture and can adapt to an ever

changing context. As a leader in the field, you have the opportunity to help make Africa’s food

systems regenerative and more inclusive.

What We Provide

When you join, you will be offered the opportunity to participate in a highly interactive, four-month programme, and given membership to the African Food Fellowship. This includes a further coaching programme of six months. After this programme, you will:

• Understand food systems and systems thinking. You learn about the interactions between the food supply chain and its impact on social, economic and environmental health. This includes an exploration of the dynamic nature of food systems and how they change.
• See where there are trade-offs in the system. You will get to design strategies and learn approaches to deal with these trade-offs and create synergies by learning how to effectively steer the process of change.

• Develop individual and collective leadership qualities by exploring personal attitudes and aspirations. You will better your networking skills, build relationships, find common ground and overcome resistance to change.

• Build your network. Become part of a community of food systems leaders across the continent.

• Gain world-class, expert knowledge by engaging with leading faculties and mentors.

How Will You Learn?

The programme will be mainly online and highly interactive, but there are in-country, informal meet ups, too.

• You will gain practical insights from experts and other Fellows to help you in your leadership role.

• You will have regular meetings with business leaders, mentors, food systems experts, soft- skill trainers and dialogue facilitators.

• You will work with others in your sector to learn how you can be effective system leaders together.

How Long Will The Programme Take?

The leadership programme takes ten months. You will meet regularly online, take part in interactive sessions and work on your individual missions as food systems leaders. Over the course, you will cover four modules. Each of these cover fundamental skills you will need as a food systems leader. The modules are as follows.

Stage 1 Food Systems Leadership Programme: Systems Insight

• Module I Concepts for Food Systems Leadership: What is the Food System, Systems Leadership, The Network, The ‘How’ of System Change.

• Module II Foresights, Scenarios and Deep Dives: The Food System on national level, the Food System in My Area.

• Module III Design for Systems Action: Developing Strategy, Design and Plan Action for Food Systems Transformation.
Upon completion of stage 1 of the programme, you will receive a certificate and six further months of coaching to put your recently acquired food systems leadership skills into practice.

Stage 2 Food Systems Leadership Programme: Systems Action

• Module IV Systems action: Design and Action for Food Systems Transformation, Coaching, Mentoring and Inspiration Sessions.

• Module V Reflection and Fellowship Community Building

Upon completion of the first stage of the programme, participants will be awarded with a certificate of commitment to food systems
transformation and will enter the coaching programme as Fellows of the African Food Fellowship

Interested? Get started now click here to apply on the African Food Fellowship website.

You will receive a confirmation and more information within a week.

Early application is recommended as some parts of the application can take time. Successful applicants will be awarded full scholarships to join the first cohort of this prestigious leadership Fellowship.

Your time investment:

4 hrs/week on average. The programme will be delivered online and will facilitate informal meet-ups and assignments to visit other Fellows, organisations and businesses.

Upon completion of the programme, participants will be awarded with a certificate of commitment to food systems transformation and will enter the coaching programme as Fellows of the African Food Fellowship.

Click here to apply for the African food fellowship