Jun 16, 2026
WHAT: African farmers, food system leaders, young agripreneurs, government officials, World Food Prize Laureates, agricultural researchers and business innovators will convene for a high-level event to discuss how to navigate the defining challenge of feeding a continent whose population will represent more than one in four people on the planet by 2050.
This year’s DialogueNEXT, themed “Born to Feed the Future,” is hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation in Nairobi, Kenya — the third and final stop in its global journey tracing the legacy of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug — following Mexico (2024) and India (2025).
The event is open to journalists, who will have direct access to senior figures across African agriculture, policy, science, innovation and business — all in one room, on one day. African ministers will speak at a press conference during the event.
The event will also feature the presentation of three major awards:
The Norman Borlaug Medallion
The 2026 Borlaug Field Award
The 2026 Inspiring the Next Generation Award
WHEN: Tuesday, June 30, 2026
(The press conference will be held 10:15 – 10:45 local time at the venue.)
Journalists also have the opportunity to join field visits on Wednesday, July 1 at the International Livestock Research Institute and International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, among other organizations.
These visits will showcase African agricultural innovations in action firsthand. Contact Harvey Presence (harvey@marchmontcomms.com) to register or inquire (spaces are limited).
WHERE: Safari Park Hotel & Casino, Kasarani, Off Thika Road, P.O. Box 45038, Nairobi 00100 Kenya. In-person registration for media is open here.
WHO: The event will feature several eminent leaders, including:
Hon. Akinwumi Adesina | 2017 World Food Prize Laureate and Member, World Food Prize Foundation Council of Advisors
Terese Shadrach Akpem | 2024 Top Agri-food Pioneer and Founder, Vet Konect
Dennis Beesigamukama | 2024 Borlaug Field Award Recipient and Postdoctoral Fellow, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology
Jun 16, 2026
The Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Hon. John Dumelo, on Monday, received a high-level delegation from the Kingdom of Thailand led by H.E. Mrs Urasa Mongkolnavin, Director-General of the Department of South Asian, Middle East and African Affairs at Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during a courtesy call at the Ministry in Accra.
Discussions focused on strengthening agricultural cooperation between Ghana and Thailand, with particular emphasis on food security, sustainable agricultural development, agribusiness investment and opportunities for public-private partnerships.
A key highlight of the meeting was the interest expressed by Thai investors in Ghana’s palm oil sector. The delegation explored opportunities for establishing palm plantations and processing facilities to support growing demand within the industry.
Mr Dumelo reaffirmed the Government of Ghana’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for agricultural investment and assured the delegation of the Ministry’s support in facilitating access to suitable land for agricultural projects. He noted that Ghana possesses significant agricultural potential and identified the Oti, Ashanti and Ahafo Regions as areas with favourable conditions for palm cultivation.
The Deputy Minister also highlighted opportunities for collaboration with local farmers and encouraged investments that would support value addition, job creation and increased productivity across the palm oil value chain. He further outlined available investment incentives, including possible tax concessions on imported agricultural equipment and support through relevant government agencies.
Both sides expressed optimism about the prospects for deeper cooperation and agreed to continue engagements aimed at advancing agricultural development, trade and investment between Ghana and Thailand for the mutual benefit of both countries.
The delegation, which is in Ghana from 13 to 19 June 2026, included H.E. Mr Thirapath Mongkolnavin, Ambassador of Thailand to Nigeria and concurrently accredited to Ghana, officials from Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representatives of the Royal Thai Embassy in Abuja, Thai businesses, financial institutions, and members of the Thai Community Ghana LBG.
Jun 16, 2026
Agric Minister, Eric Opoku, announced that the intervention forms part of a broader strategy to support smallholder farmers with essential inputs needed to improve yields and enhance livelihoods.
According to the Minister, the fertilizer distribution is expected to benefit thousands of farmers, particularly those engaged in the cultivation of staple food crops.
In addition to the fertilizer support, the Ministry will deploy agricultural drones to selected farming communities to promote modern and technology-driven farming practices. The drones will be used for crop monitoring, precision spraying, field mapping, and the early detection of pests and diseases, helping farmers improve efficiency while reducing production costs.
Mr. Opoku said the initiative demonstrates government’s commitment to transforming agriculture through innovation and targeted support programmes that enhance productivity and sustainability.
“Improving access to fertilizers and modern farming technologies remains critical to increasing food production, strengthening the agricultural value chain, and reducing post-harvest losses,” he noted.
The Minister expressed confidence that the intervention will contribute significantly to Ghana’s food security agenda while improving the incomes of farmers across the country.
The Ministry is expected to provide further details on the distribution process, beneficiary selection criteria, and drone deployment arrangements during the official launch on Tuesday.
Jun 16, 2026
I have spent much of my career sitting in rooms where Africa speaks with clarity about its ambition for agriculture. I have also spent much of my career watching that clarity dissipate before it reaches the farmer.
I remember one of my earliest engagements at the African Union, where ministers across the continent reaffirmed their commitment to the Malabo Declaration. The language was precise. Increase public investment, drive 6% agricultural growth, eliminate hunger. Years later, I sat in a different setting – a smallholder meeting in western Kenya – listening to farmers describe delayed fertilizer delivery, weak extension support and an inability to access even the most basic credit. The gap between those two rooms is the gap we must now close.
This gap is not a failure of ideas. It is a failure of execution. In my work supporting AGRA programmes, I have seen how often good policy falters at the point of delivery. Strategies are drafted but not costed. Budgets are allocated but not executed. Programmes are launched but not tracked. And most critically, farmers and SMEs, the very people policy is meant to serve, are left navigating systems that do not speak to each other.
For a farmer, the ‘implementation gap’ is not an abstract concept. It is the difference between receiving inputs in time for planting or not at all. For an agribusiness SME, it is the difference between securing working capital or shutting down a processing line. Innovative financing must reach the last mile, not just the conference room.
One lesson I have learned repeatedly is that innovation is often celebrated long before it is scaled. During a field visit in Zambia and Mozambique, I saw firsthand how a seemingly simple policy shift – a move from physical fertilizer distribution to a digital e-voucher system – transformed farmer experience. What began as a pilot reaching just over 200,000 farmers has now scaled to more than one million farmers nationwide, with improved transparency, faster delivery and stronger participation by private agro-dealers. For a farmer, this is what innovation looks like: not a new financial product in a report, but timely access to inputs through a system that works.
We often ask why commercial banks are not lending to agriculture despite the sector contributing up to 20–30% of Africa’s GDP and employing over 60% of the workforce. The better question to ask is: why should banks deploy more financing into agri‑food systems?
Banks respond rationally to the incentives we create. In Nigeria, the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) framework has helped unlock over ₦70 billion in agribusiness financing in 2025 alone. In Kenya, the Credit Guarantee Scheme has supported thousands of SMEs, reaching over 4,300 beneficiaries with strong repayment performance of 93%.
These are not isolated successes. They are proof that agriculture is bankable when policy shares risk, improves data and reduces transaction costs.
Policy, however, must build resilience to climate shocks whilst strengthening domestic food production systems. Climate resilience and food sovereignty are now inseparable. Across Africa, climate shocks are no longer future risks, they are daily realities. According to a 2025 World Meteorological Report, Africa has experienced its warmest decade on record, with droughts and floods increasingly disrupting food systems.
I have seen this up close in northern Ghana where erratic rainfall is shortening planting seasons and in Southern Africa where drought cycles are becoming more intense and less predictable. On the flipside, Morocco’s long-term investment in irrigation illustrates what is possible when policy aligns infrastructure and climate adaptation.
One of the most transformative policy shifts I have witnessed is the move toward data-driven governance. In the past, subsidy programmes often struggled with leakages and inefficiencies. Today, digital systems such as farmer registries, mobile payments and real-time tracking are making it possible to deliver support with far greater transparency and accountability. This is not just a technical upgrade. It is a fundamental shift in how states interact with farmers and markets.
I have seen both sides of this story: the high-level commitments, and the lived realities of farmers and SMEs. What is clear to me is that Africa already knows what needs to be done – move from dialogue to implementation.
The ultimate test for dialogue platforms such as the upcoming Financing Agri‑Food Systems Sustainably (FINAS) 2026 will not be the quality of its panels, but the strength of its outcomes. FINAS 2026 should champion the shift from dialogue to delivery unapologetically. The Summit must be clear that implementation is the most important form of agricultural finance policy.
Africa does not need another conference that diagnoses the problem. It needs a platform that catalyses solutions. If FINAS 2026 will align policy, finance and delivery into a coherent system, then it will not just be relevant. It will be catalytic. If not, it risks becoming just another room where Africa speaks powerfully, but farmers return home unchanged.
Jun 12, 2026
The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku has announced that Ghana will introduce a new policy linking rice import permits to investments in domestic rice production as part of an ambitious plan to achieve full rice self-sufficiency within the next decade.
Speaking at the opening of the two-day West Africa Rice Investment Roundtable in Accra, on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, the Minister said the Government would require rice importers to demonstrate progressive procurement from, and partnerships with, Ghanaian rice producers before being granted import licences.
“We are redirecting the existing value in the rice trade toward building our own productive capacity,” Opoku told participants, which included Ministers from across the region, development partners, financial institutions and private sector investors.
According to the Minister, Ghana currently consumes about 1.7 million tonnes of rice annually but produces only about 960,000 tonnes, leaving a deficit of roughly 751,000 tonnes and a self-sufficiency rate of 56 percent.
The shortfall costs the country an estimated $320 million annually in rice imports.
Eric Opoku said the government had completed advanced satellite-based geospatial mapping of rice-growing areas nationwide to identify investment opportunities and support the country’s rice development strategy.
The mapping exercise, conducted with support from the World Bank and in partnership with scientist Dr Kathryn Natindi and a NASA-backed programme, has identified approximately 515,000 acres of land under rice cultivation across major rice-producing zones.
“What this means for investors and businesses is straightforward. We are no longer offering perceived potential; we are offering verified, location-specific opportunities,” he said.
The Minister noted that Ghanaian rice farmers currently achieve average yields of about 3.4 tonnes per hectare, but productivity under irrigated systems has reached 6.5 tonnes per hectare, demonstrating the potential for significant output growth through improved seeds, irrigation, mechanisation and better agronomic practices.
He also highlighted post-harvest challenges, noting that rice milling recovery rates in Ghana stand at about 55 percent, below the global benchmark of 65 percent, resulting in annual losses estimated between $15 million and $90 million.
Under the new import-linked production framework, import quotas will be gradually reduced over the next 10 years based on verified increases in domestic production and private investment.
Eric Opoku stressed that the policy would not involve higher tariffs or import bans that could lead to shortages or higher consumer prices.
The Government projects that achieving full rice self-sufficiency could save Ghana more than $2 billion in foreign exchange over the next decade, attract over $400 million in private investment and create more than 200,000 jobs across farming, processing, distribution and related services.
He said the strategy would benefit both commercial farms and smallholder farmers, including women who play a central role in rice aggregation, processing and trade.
The announcement forms part of broader agricultural reforms under the government’s Feed Ghana programme, which includes investments in irrigation expansion, mechanisation, improved seed systems, fertiliser efficiency, post-harvest infrastructure and value addition.
The Government is also strengthening its “Eat Ghana Rice” campaign and establishing an inter-ministerial task force to combat rice smuggling through unauthorised border routes.
Eric Opoku called on investors, financial institutions and development partners attending the roundtable to support Ghana’s rice transformation agenda, saying the country had already mapped opportunities, aligned incentives and developed systems to monitor performance and ensure transparency.
“What remains is partnership,” he said. “And partnership is what we are waiting for.”
