World Food Prize Foundation brings DialogueNEXT to Nairobi

Agricultural leaders, ministers and innovators are meeting in Nairobi this week for DialogueNEXT in Africa, a World Food Prize Foundation event focused on agri-tech, regulation and food systems. The gathering comes as Africa faces rapid population growth, climate risk and a push to unlock more investment in farm innovation.

Why it matters: - Africa’s population is expected to account for more than one in four people on the planet by 2050, raising the stakes for food production, trade and rural livelihoods. - The Nairobi meeting is meant to speed up agri-tech solutions, investment and policy changes for a continent facing climate stress and chronic underinvestment. - The event also puts global attention on African farmers, scientists and entrepreneurs developing solutions for local food systems.

What happened: - Agricultural leaders, government officials, agripreneurs, scientists and farmers gathered in Nairobi this week for DialogueNEXT in Africa. - The World Food Prize Foundation is hosting the conference. - High-level government representatives at the discussions include H.E. Mutahi Kagwe, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development, and Dr. Riana Nantenaina Randrianomenjanahary, Madagascar’s Minister of Livestock. - DialogueNEXT in Africa is the third stop in the World Food Prize Foundation’s global journey, after events in Mexico in 2024 and India in 2025.

The details: - Key sessions focus on optimized agri-regulations, farmer-centered innovations, smallholder harvests, nutrition and food systems, and value chains. - A ministerial panel is examining regulatory barriers that slow African agricultural investment and innovation. - A dedicated agripreneurship session features rapid-fire keynotes from agripreneurs and development experts. - The event theme is “Born to Feed the Future.” - The theme signals a message that Africa is generating solutions from within rather than waiting for outside help. - The World Food Prize Foundation says the event follows the legacy of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, who called Africa “the last frontier.” - The conference comes four decades after Borlaug’s first major visit to Africa in 1984, according to the foundation. - Foundation President Mashal Husain said Borlaug believed science in the hands of farmers could defeat hunger. - Husain said that mission remains unfinished as Africa’s food systems must feed a young, growing and increasingly urban population. - The convening highlights backing promising agri-food innovations and aligning researchers, institutions and regional partners more closely with African realities and priorities.

Between the lines: - The timing reflects growing concern about climate risk, with El Niño developing and forecast to be one of the strongest on record. - The release says there is a near 90 percent probability that El Niño will continue into the southern hemisphere summer. - The release also cites projections that 2°C of warming could cut crop yields across sub-Saharan Africa by 10 percent. - Warming beyond 2°C could push yield losses to as much as 20 percent, according to the release. - Akinwumi Adesina said holding the conversation in Africa is necessary because the continent remains chronically underinvested in, even though it has dynamic agricultural systems and resilient farmers. - Adesina said climate shocks, fragile supply chains and population growth are real challenges, but African scientists, farmers and entrepreneurs are also building solutions. - The Nairobi discussions are designed to help shape the global agenda, Adesina said.

What's next: - DialogueNEXT in Africa is intended to feed into broader work on agricultural policy, innovation and investment across the continent. - The next major stop for the World Food Prize Foundation is the Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa, set for October 20–22, 2026.

The bottom line: - Nairobi is serving as a stage for a wider argument: Africa’s food future will depend on faster innovation, smarter regulation and more capital, not just more attention.