CGIAR puts Africa food system innovations on display at Kigali forum

CGIAR used the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali to showcase scalable, investment-ready tools aimed at helping African countries deliver their 2026-2035 agriculture plan. The examples highlighted climate resilience, digital agriculture and financing models already showing measurable gains for farmers.

Why it matters: - Africa is entering a new 2026-2035 agriculture push under the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan, and CGIAR says proven innovations can help turn that plan into farm-level gains. - The forum spotlighted tools that are already showing yield gains, new financing channels and support for climate resilience at a time of hunger, weather shocks, conflict and tighter public budgets.

What happened: - CGIAR presented a set of science-backed innovations at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali, Rwanda. - The network framed the displays as investment-ready opportunities to scale agrifood solutions across Africa. - The forum brought together CGIAR leadership, African governments, international funders and other partners to discuss how to scale the most promising innovations.

The details: - A digital fertilizer advisory system has improved yields by up to 25% for nearly 50,000 farmers in Ethiopia. - A bundle of climate-smart, digital and financial tools has lifted crop yields by 80% for women farmers in rural Kenya. - A financing model has unlocked $1.5 billion for agriculture innovations in Nigeria, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. - CGIAR says it has developed more than 470 food systems innovations globally in recent years. - Those innovations have benefited more than six million farmers across the continent. - At least four CGIAR centers are headquartered in Africa, and at least 10 have significant operations on the continent. - Through its forthcoming Strategy 2040, CGIAR is prioritizing links between science, development finance, policy and national delivery to scale innovations that support the CAADP agenda.

Between the lines: - CGIAR is making a case that the main barrier is not a lack of ideas, but a lack of funding structures and partnerships that can reduce risk for investors. - The organization’s pitch is aimed at multilateral lenders and other capital providers looking for measurable returns as traditional aid shrinks. - Tim Krupnik, director of CGIAR’s Scaling for Impact Program, said CGIAR’s evidence base has shown which innovations work, for whom and under what conditions before capital is deployed. - Krupnik said the science has returned roughly $10 for every $1 invested once scaled. - Ismahane Elouafi, executive managing director of CGIAR, said the missing link is the partnerships and funding infrastructure needed to deliver solutions at scale.

What's next: - CGIAR plans to use its Strategy 2040 to connect proven science with development finance, policy and national implementation. - The goal is to help countries scale innovations that can support the CAADP transformation agenda and improve food system outcomes across Africa. - The organization is also signaling that it wants more funding from institutions such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank behind CGIAR-backed solutions.