School Meals at the Africa Food Systems Forum

The Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF) 2026, under the theme “Investing in Africa’s Agri-Food Systems: Nourishing Nations, Growing Jobs, Building Resilience,” focused on turning commitments into action by mobilizing public and private investment to transform Africa’s agri-food systems. The forum addressed critical challenges including food insecurity, malnutrition, climate vulnerability, and youth unemployment.

Building on two decades of impact, AFSF 2026 brought together leaders, investors, policymakers, farmers, entrepreneurs, women, and youth to explore innovative financing solutions, scalable business models, and sustainable food systems approaches. The Forum highlighted opportunities to strengthen value chains, boost productivity, create jobs, and improve food security and nutrition across the continent.

School meals do more than fill a plate: they nourish children providing the food and nutrition security that every child needs to grow, learn, and thrive. 

On the sidelines of the AFS forum, the School Meals Coalition’s Sustainable Financing Initiative (SFI), in partnership with Rockefeller, SNV, Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT and other Coalition partners, hosted a side event that examined financing and partnership models, and procurement approaches that support healthy, locally sourced, climate-adapted foods while strengthening food systems and nutrition outcomes.

In a panel discussion on Funding Better School Meals, SFI and the Rockefeller Foundation, spoke to the need to how countries could be supported to fund both scale and improvements to dietary quality and diversity together by mobilizing new resources through financing instruments like debt swaps and health taxes, and stretching existing budgets further through smarter, data-driven menu design and innovations like fortified whole grain. Speaking on behalf of the School Meals Coalition, Finland highlighted the importance of sustainable financing and cross-sector partnerships in advancing resilient school meal programmes and local food systems.