Africa Food Systems Forum 2026

Livestock support more than 70 percent of rural livelihoods in Africa and contribute up to 40 percent of agricultural gross domestic product (FAO 2021). Investment in the sector has never matched that contribution. As the Africa Food Systems Forum marks 20 years and meets in Kigali under the theme, Investing in Africa’s Agri-Food Systems: Nourishing Nations, Growing Jobs, Building Resilience, ILRI brings evidence on where investment in livestock pays back — in diets, in jobs, and in resilience to climate and market shocks.

The size of the opportunity is easiest to see in what is currently lost. An average African cow produces just 6 percent of the annual milk yield of a cow in an OECD country. Closing that gap through better feed, genetics, animal health, and husbandry means more milk, meat, and eggs from the animals farmers already keep — more food, more income, more jobs, and lower emissions for every litre of milk and kilogram of meat produced. ILRI’s dairy genetic work has already raised milk yields by 30 to 50 percent for more than 250,000 farmers across Africa and Asia.

Rwanda is one of four countries that have adopted a Livestock Master Plan, alongside Ethiopia, The Gambia, and Tanzania, with plans under way in Nigeria and Madagascar. These plans are what turns evidence into budget lines. In Dakar in 2025, the Forum programmed around livestock for the first time. In Kigali, the question is no longer whether livestock belong in Africa’s food systems, but what investing in them returns.

Conference website

The case for livestock in Africa's food systems, in brief 

1. Livestock are how millions of Africans eat well

More than a billion Africans — two-thirds of the continent — cannot afford a healthy diet. Milk, meat and eggs are the most reliable sources of the iron, zinc and vitamin B12 that prevent stunting and protect children’s growth in the first 1,000 days of life. Without livestock, Africa cannot close its nutrition gap.

2. Livestock are how millions of Africans earn

Livestock support 1.3 billion livelihoods worldwide and up to 40% of agricultural GDP. In Africa they are a leading route into work and enterprise for young people and women, who already drive much of the activity in poultry, dairy and small-ruminant value chains. For rural families, animals are savings, insurance and a buffer when times are hard.

3. Closing the productivity gap helps turn livestock into growth and jobs

African livestock are among the least productive in the world — and that gap is the opportunity. Better feed, genetics and animal health mean each animal produces more, without larger herds. ILRI’s dairy genetics work has lifted milk yields by 30 to 50% for a quarter of a million farmers, while turning cassava peel waste into feed has cut costs and created jobs. More food, more income, lower emissions — from the animals farmers already keep.

4. Productivity is only half the story

Gains on the farm reach people’s plates only when systems connect farms to markets — through processing, food safety and the informal markets that supply most animal-source foods in Africa. Strengthening these markets, rather than bypassing them, is what turns better production into better food for everyone.

4. Climate action on livestock means transformation, not elimination

Livestock produce around 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but in Africa, low productivity means each litre of milk or kilo of meat carries a heavier climate cost than it needs to. Better feeds, forages, genetics and veterinary care could cut that emissions intensity by up to 30% while raising output, and well-managed pastoral and rangeland systems store carbon and sustain biodiversity on top. The goal isn't to take livestock out of food systems, but to invest in climate-smart systems that cut emissions and build resilience at the same time.

5. Women and youth are the ones who'll transform it

Young people make up 60% of Africa’s population and are already active across livestock value chains; women are central to managing animals and dairy. Give them access to technology, finance and climate information, and they become the engine of more efficient, more resilient livestock systems.