AgriFood Africa Connect

Innovate UK AgriFood Africa Connect brought innovative people and organisations across the UK and Africa together to develop solutions for the sustainable management of AgriFood systems in Africa.

Accelerating positive change for African AgriFood systems

AgriFood Africa Connect was part of the larger Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) AgriFood Africa programme, which ran from 2019 to 2024. Funded by the GCRF and delivered by Innovate UK, this multimillion-pound programme accelerated ambitious ideas into solutions for sustainable AgriFood systems in Africa. It facilitated impactful partnerships to reduce poverty, boost prosperity, and improve wellbeing.

Activities

AgriFood Africa Connect brought the UK and African AgriFood community together through events, funding, networking and information sharing.

Event articles

Explore topics covered through events.

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Deep dive insights

Read reports and impact articles.

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Event recordings

Gain insights from our past events.

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Success stories

Visit our case study collection.

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Video showcases

Explore our YouTube channel.

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Our impact

In six funding rounds, totalling £2.3m, AgriFood Africa Connect funded 86 collaborative projects in 13 countries. These projects spanned the livestock, crops, and food sectors.

of funding

£2.3m

of funding

projects supported

86

projects supported

countries

13

countries

Impact in action

AgriFood Africa Connect united innovative UK and African partners to deliver sustainable change across three central impact areas: promoting economic empowerment; improving nutrition for health and wellbeing; and enabling more sustainable, secure food systems.
  • Discover projects that enhanced incomes, economic resilience and female empowerment.

    In numbers:
    48 projects improved farmer incomes, 52 safeguarded or created new jobs, and 52 increased female empowerment in agriculture.

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  • Discover projects that improved access to nutrition and increased dietary diversity in African food systems.

    In numbers:
    51 projects enhanced access to healthy, safe, and nutritious food, with 48 tackling food loss or waste across the supply chain.

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  • Discover projects mitigating food loss and waste within the supply chain, contributing to improved food security.

    In numbers:
    50 projects introduced new products or services, while 59 improved existing agricultural processes or supply chains.

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  • Learn how collaboration between organisations and countries addressed complex agricultural challenges.

    In numbers:
    172 partners collaborated to deliver innovative projects.

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Addressing African AgriFood challenges

Our ‘Focus on...’ series takes a topical deep dive into partnerships tackling key challenges facing African AgriFood systems.
Nutrition

Nutrition

Discover projects exploring the benefits of ‘forgotten foods’.

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Livestock

Livestock

Learn how innovations are improving livestock production.

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Aquaculture Feed

Aquaculture Feed

Explore how insect-based feeds are transforming fish farming.

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Energy

Energy

Discover energy innovations promoting sustainability and economic growth.

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INSIGHT

Five lessons learned from AgriFood Africa Connect

To support those wanting to deliver similar projects in the future, we wanted to share some key learnings about what we did and the approaches we used.

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INSIGHT

Top tips from collaborators

This guide brings together insight from partners involved in international AgriFood projects and from the Innovate UK Business Connect AgriFood project team.

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GCRF AgriFood Africa programme

The GCRF AgriFood Africa programme consisted of several linked components. Learn more about other parts of this programme.

GCRF AgriFood Africa

Learn more about GCRF AgriFood Africa and its activities.

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African Agriculture Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

Projects bringing new skills and the latest academic thinking to African business challenges.

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Agri-Tech Catalyst

Collaborative innovation projects addressing AgriFood challenges.

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