Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and AGRA have signed a Letter of Intent to strengthen nutrition-centred food systems across Africa. Announced on the sidelines of the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali, the agreement seeks to close the gap between rising agricultural production and access to healthy diets. The partnership is built around five areas of work, including nutrition mainstreaming, evidence generation, country-level food systems transformation, and inclusive employment pathways. Its central ambition is to make healthier diets more accessible, affordable, desirable and sourced more sustainably for Africans.

Linking Farms With Diets

Africa’s agricultural output has expanded over recent decades, yet the release identifies a persistent disconnect between food production and the foods many households are able to buy and consume. Millions of people still lack access to safe, affordable and nutritious food, placing nutrition alongside food security as a practical measure of agricultural progress.

The new agreement positions nutrition outcomes more directly within the work of agricultural markets, investment and supply chains. It also brings together two organisations with complementary interests in nutrition, farming enterprises and broader agrifood systems, creating a clearer shared platform for work across governments, businesses, farmers, financiers and researchers.

Ms. Alice Ruhweza, President, AGRA, said:

“No single organisation can close the gap between Africa’s farms and its plates. AGRA was founded as an alliance because transformation depends on many actors moving together; governments, businesses, farmers, financiers and researchers. Working with GAIN, we are bringing nutrition into that alignment by building markets for nutrient-dense foods, mobilising private investment behind them, and measuring whether diets, not just harvests, are improving,”

Five Areas Of Action

The Letter of Intent sets out five pillars for the renewed relationship. The first is to mainstream nutrition into the strategic direction of the Africa Food Systems Forum. GAIN and AGRA also plan to embed nutrition more systematically across AGRA’s core investment areas, connecting agricultural investment decisions with their potential dietary outcomes.

Evidence and data form another major strand of the work. The organisations intend to identify which agricultural investments offer the greatest nutrition impact and to scale approaches that prove effective. Their plans include developing know-how, raising awareness, producing joint publications and holding convenings for governments, investors and food systems practitioners.

The partnership will also support countries seeking to accelerate food systems transformation by 2030 through the Accelerator Initiative. This includes engagement with governments, businesses, development finance institutions and public development banks, with an emphasis on collective capacity and financing efforts.

Affordability At The Centre

The release places affordability at the heart of the challenge. It states that, in 2024, the number of Africans unable to afford a healthy diet exceeded one billion, equivalent to two in three people on the continent. The partners connect this gap not only with malnutrition, but also with economic productivity, entrepreneurship, jobs, innovation, supply-chain resilience and health system pressures.

That framing makes the agreement relevant well beyond agricultural production. It calls for food systems that deliver nutritious whole foods through markets that work for consumers, while recognising that food choices are shaped by price, availability and desirability as well as production volumes.

Dr. Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director, GAIN, said:

“In 2024 number of Africans who could not afford a healthy diet broke through the 1 billion barrier. This means 2 in 3 Africans cannot afford a meal that will promote their health. That is bad for nutrition, but also for economic productivity, entrepreneurial activity, job creation, innovation capacity, the resilience of food systems, the stability of supply chains and health system burdens. Making healthier diets more accessible is the “no regrets” action to combat all those forms of malnutrition. By working together, using sustainable practices, GAIN and AGRA’s partnership will make nutritious whole foods more available, affordable and desirable for all Africans. We are committed to pooling our know-how and aligning our action programmes so that 1+1 equals an impact of 3. Anything less would be a dereliction of our duty to our stakeholders,”

Inclusion Through Supply Chains

Gender inclusion, agripreneurship and job creation are the fifth pillar of the collaboration. The organisations intend to promote pathways that deliver nutrition outcomes within communities through supply chains, placing livelihoods and participation alongside the availability of nutritious foods.

This focus recognises that the route from farms to plates includes a wide range of businesses and workers, from producers to processors, traders and retailers. Supporting inclusive activity across that chain can help connect agricultural enterprise with consumer access, while ensuring nutrition is considered in economic opportunities created by food systems.

A Shared Food Systems Agenda

The GAIN and AGRA agreement offers a constructive response to the mismatch between stronger production and persistent dietary insecurity. By combining nutrition mainstreaming, investment evidence, country support and inclusive supply-chain activity, the partners are seeking to judge progress through diets as well as harvests.

For African food systems, the partnership’s value will rest on its ability to convert joint knowledge and coordination into practical improvements in the availability and affordability of nutritious foods. The Letter of Intent sets out a focused agenda for doing just that, with healthier diets positioned as an outcome of agricultural and economic development rather than a separate consideration.