Nestle Partners with Africa Food Prize to Strengthen Food Security & Climate Change Resilience

In order to improve the food security and climate change resilience of the continent, Nestle today launched a partnership with the Africa Food Prize to accelerate the transformation of food systems there.

The Africa Food Prize gives the US $100,000 to people or organizations who are transforming the continent's food and agricultural systems. With the goal of boosting food security, promoting economic growth and development, and eliminating hunger and poverty in Africa, the Prize shines a spotlight on particularly effective agri-food initiatives and technology advancements that can be replicated throughout the continent. The Africa Food Prize is organized by AGRA. This African-led and African-based organization transforms agriculture from a single struggle for survival into farming as a business that flourishes, placing smallholder farmers at the core of the expanding economy of the continent. With its headquarters in Kenya, AGRA operates in 15 African nations.

This year, Dr. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, a plant geneticist from Ghana, was awarded the prestigious prize during September’s AGRF Summit in Kigali, Rwanda. Dr. Danquah was celebrated for his outstanding expertise and leadership in establishing the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) and developing it into a world-class center for the education of plant breeders in Africa.

Nestle will contribute CHF 100,000 to the Africa Food Prize, which will be awarded in 2023. Part of the contribution will go to the leading award and a special category focusing on innovations that advance regenerative food systems.

In order to reduce hunger and improve livelihoods over the long term, agriculture must be transformed to be more productive and sustainable, according to Remy Ejel, Chief Executive Officer of Zone Asia, Oceania, and Africa, Nestlé S.A. “To improve productivity, nutrition, and income for people in Africa, we want to promote and highlight efforts leading regenerative agricultural and food systems.”

Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA, commented on the partnership, saying, "We are pleased to be teaming with Nestlé to acknowledge Africa's top food systems. The Africa Food Prize is a wonderful chance to highlight Africa's brilliant minds, giving the rest of us the chance to learn from and replicate their good work that is bringing us closer to sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems and realizing UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 2 on Zero Hunger.

Nestle’s partnership with the Africa Food Prize builds on its years-long work in Africa to improve the continent’s nutrition and agriculture. The company has taken great strides to expand access to affordable nutrition in many communities, for example, by fortifying Maggi bouillon cubes with iron in Central and West Africa. It is also pioneering regenerative dairy farming with the establishment of the first net-zero dairy farm in Skimmelkran, South Africa.

In early 2022, Nestle launched an innovative income accelerator program, aimed at addressing child labor risks and closing the living income gap for cocoa-farming communities in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. Recently, Nestle announced an investment of CHF 1 billion by 2030 under the Nescafe Plan to transition to sustainable coffee farming, including in Côte d'Ivoire.

Entries in the Africa Food Prize are evaluated by a judging committee comprising some of Africa’s greatest food system leaders. Winners are selected based on proven results and scalable efforts.

Submissions for next year’s Africa Food Prize will be open from January 2023 and winners will be announced at the AGRF, Africa Food Systems Forum, in September.

Click here for more information on the Africa Food Prize.