Insights, Perspectives and Inspiration. Now Let’s Tell the Story
I disembarked in the wee hours of last Thursday morning, off RwandAir’s service to Johannesburg from Kigali, with a full heart, my reMarkable pad full of 8 weeks of notes, head full of ideas, questions and my spirit with steely determination to advance this great mission. I have just wrapped up my first two months of orientation of the PFS organization’s operations and teams on the African continent. In Kigali, I attended AGRF, which was my first major public event as CEO and an opportunity to see what stakeholders in the food sector thought of PFS and what our message and place in the sun (literally) ought to be.
This was my 5th AGRF (now appropriately called Africa Food Systems Forum), and once more, Africa’s premier gathering of who is who in Food and Agriculture were out in full force, and as an opportunity to meet and greet, initiate collaborations, get challenged and inspired, it delivered expertly. PFS was well represented by me, Vivian, Johnson, Veronica and our newest colleague Esther.
This year’s jamboree was themed: Innovate, Accelerate and Scale - Delivering Food Systems Transformation in a digital and Climate era. I am sure you will agree with me that the 3 calls to action are appropriate even for us at PFS. Having successfully delivered on our previous strategy - we also are looking to innovate our model, accelerate our ability to deliver sustainable impact, while keeping an eye on scale, as we respond to the pressing needs of our continent.
What I can share is that, after we hosted our near full house event on the role of Transforming African Food Processors for Climate and Growth, ably compèred by The Professor, Johnson, featuring key partners Sahel Capital, and our entrepreneur Wanjiru Mambo (Wedgehut) - PFS has a message and much to share to the food sector as a whole.
I made the point that our work and our position in the ecosystem is that of privilege, and great responsibility.
We have near unfettered access to over 200 African food processors annually, walking through their factories, working intricately on projects, engaging entrepreneurs, their staff and ecosystem partners. When we sum all, we see and all we do, we can authoritatively deliver The State of Africa ‘s Food Processors - with authenticity and authority. Positioning the Sectors energy needs was one such opportunity.
Secondly, we are privileged and extremely fortunate to have access to 1000s of hours of top global food processing expertise from leading firms, who know a thing or two about operating successful businesses in the food sector - and are willing to spend quality time and resources in support of Africa’s fledgling food sector. We have a responsibility to honor and respect this contribution and turn into a powerful force that will be the wind in the sails of Africa’s food sector.
Thirdly, we have the privilege and the opportunity to be stewards of not only our generous donors’ resources, but also to be executors of their legacies and ambitions as they seek to contribute to the generational challenge of our time, Delivering Safe, Healthy, Nutritious and Affordable Food to African and Global consumers while creating sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable communities that produce ingredients and consume the food products. This is a task we should take with great care, skill and agility to outperform even our best ambitions
PFS is well respected and regarded by a range of partners and those we met with, (CGIAR, Fortified Whole Grain Alliance, IKEA Foundation, IDH, Gates Foundation, USAID, Technoserve, SNV, Heifer, GOGLA and many more) all saw a great role for PFS in our work contribution to Food Systems Transformation
Through our Apprenticeship program we have the rare privilege and massive responsibility to contribute to developing the next generation of professionals across various disciplines within the food sector. Ours is the opportunity to be both a potter and diamond cutter.
Having time and access to over 200 African CEOs, they that have become adept at keeping businesses alive in the face of climate change, inadequate access to finance, complicated compliance mechanisms, and ever-changing technology environment - have a responsibility to connect them better, help build their hardware and software skills and enlist them as change agents in their communities and the continent. We have a responsibility to unleash this power.
As I touch down in Minneapolis, I look forward to enriching conversations and opportunities to share some of the inspiration, perspectives and insights I have been gathering. I hope we can re-ignite, and turbo charge our partners to continue this transformative journey with PFS!
Mandla
09 September,2024
Minneapolis