Building resilient food systems at the 2026 WFO General Assembly

As global attention increasingly turns towards building resilient, inclusive, and climate-smart food systems, one reality has become impossible to ignore: agricultural transformation cannot be achieved through isolated interventions. The challenges facing farmers today, including climate change, declining soil health, rising production costs, limited access to finance, and energy poverty, are deeply interconnected. Addressing them requires solutions that are equally integrated.

This message was at the heart of the Power for Food Partnership’s contribution to the 2026 World Farmers' Organisation (WFO) General Assembly in Nairobi. Held in Africa for the first time, the General Assembly included farmers, government representatives, financiers, private-sector actors, researchers, and development partners who came together to examine how best to deliver on farmer aspirations including regenerative agriculture and productive use of renewable energy (RA-PURE) as a way to accelerate food systems transformation across Africa.

Across the continent, governments and development actors are seeking pathways to increase agricultural productivity while simultaneously advancing climate resilience, economic inclusion, and environmental sustainability. Yet, despite significant investments in both agriculture and renewable energy over recent decades, progress has often been fragmented, with the agriculture and energy sectors operating independently and opportunities for synergy remaining largely untapped.

The session challenged this status quo. Rather than viewing regenerative agriculture and renewable energy as separate development agendas, participants explored how their integration can unlock a new model of rural transformation, capable of restoring ecosystems, improving farm productivity, strengthening climate resilience, enabling value addition, and creating economic opportunities for rural communities.

 

 

Evidence that challenges conventional assumptions

A central feature of the event was the presentation of findings from the Power for Food Partnership's RA-PURE Gap Analysis, conducted across seven counties in Kenya by the Egerton University, COELIB. The research sought to understand the current state of regenerative agriculture adoption, renewable energy use, and the opportunities and barriers influencing the integration of the two approaches.

The findings offered both encouragement and caution. On the one hand, farmers are already embracing a range of regenerative agriculture practices. Compost manure application, crop rotation, intercropping, agroforestry, and conservation agriculture practices were widely reported across the study areas. These practices demonstrate a growing recognition among farmers that soil health and ecosystem restoration are fundamental to long-term productivity.

Yet the research also revealed a paradox. While awareness of renewable energy technologies and their potential applications within agricultural systems is relatively high, actual adoption remains low. In several counties, farmers demonstrated strong awareness of renewable energy solutions, such as solar-powered irrigation and biogas/bio slurry systems, but very few had translated this awareness into practice. This finding challenged one of the most common assumptions that low adoption is primarily the result of limited knowledge.

Instead, the evidence pointed elsewhere. Farmers consistently identified affordability as the most significant barrier preventing the uptake of renewable energy technologies and integrated RA-PURE solutions. The issue was not simply access to information, nor even access to energy infrastructure. In many cases, farmers were already connected to the electricity grid or had access to renewable energy sources. The challenge was that available energy was rarely being used productively within agricultural enterprises. Rather than powering irrigation systems, processing equipment, cold storage facilities, or value-addition activities, energy use remained concentrated around household lighting and basic domestic needs.

The challenge facing agricultural transformation is not solely technological. It is economic, systemic, and institutional.

 

 

The missing link: Viable business cases and farmer-centred financing

Throughout the discussions, participants repeatedly returned to one critical insight: farmers do not invest in technologies simply because they are innovative; they invest when those technologies strengthen their livelihoods, income and gives them an upper hand in production. The gap analysis highlighted financing as the single most important support mechanism farmers require to adopt integrated agriculture and renewable energy solutions. However, emphasis was made that access to finance alone is insufficient. Financial products must be designed around farmer realities, seasonal cash flows, and varying risk profiles. Financing mechanisms that create additional burdens for smallholders are unlikely to drive sustainable adoption.

The panel discussion further reinforced this point. Patrick Sigei, representing the Power for Food Partnership under BopInc, argued that successful financing models are rarely built around technologies themselves. Instead, they are built around strong business cases that generate measurable value for farmers and rural enterprises. This shift in thinking moves the conversation away from technology deployment and towards productivity gains, market access, enterprise growth, and income generation. This distinction is particularly important as governments and investors seek scalable models capable of reaching millions of farmers across diverse agricultural landscapes.

 

 

Why local context matters

Another key lesson emerging from the discussion was the importance of context-specific approaches. The research demonstrated some variation across counties. Farming systems, market structures, value chains, cultural norms, and institutional environments differed between locations. Counties such as Kericho, dominated by tea production and cooperative-led value chains, presented very different adoption dynamics compared to counties characterised by diversified smallholder agriculture. The findings reinforced an important principle for policymakers and development practitioners alike: scaling cannot be achieved through replication alone.

Successful scaling requires adaptation

Solutions must be responsive to local realities, farmer priorities, and market incentives. Strengthening food systems depends not only on identifying what works, but also on understanding where, why, and under what conditions it works.

Women at the centre of transformation

One of the most compelling dimensions of the research was its gender perspective. Women accounted for most respondents across the study areas and continue to play a central role in agricultural production, household food security, and natural resource management. Yet discussions highlighted that many technologies and support systems are still not adequately designed around women's needs and experiences. The panellists argued that if regenerative agriculture and renewable energy solutions are to achieve scale, they must be intentionally designed to reduce labour burdens, improve accessibility, and strengthen economic opportunities for women farmers. In this regard, gender inclusion is not simply a social objective; it is a prerequisite for achieving systemic impact.

 

 

From fragmented interventions to systems transformation

Perhaps the most significant outcome of the session was a growing consensus that the future of agricultural development lies in systems thinking. The Power for Food Partnership has deliberately positioned the RA-PURE nexus not as a collection of technologies, but as a systems transformation approach that connects agriculture, energy, finance, markets, policy, and community action. Through the Learn, Link, and Leverage pathways, Power for Food seeks to generate evidence, strengthen cross-sector collaboration, and influence policy and investment ecosystems capable of supporting long-term change.

The side event provided a practical demonstration of this systems-thinking approach in action. Researchers presented evidence. Farmers shared lived experience. Government representatives highlighted policy opportunities. Private sector actors discussed market solutions and financing. Coalition partners explored financing pathways. Together, these voices showed that no single stakeholder can deliver food systems transformation alone. The challenge and opportunity lie in building the partnerships, institutions, and incentives necessary to align these efforts around a common vision of regenerative agriculture powered by renewable energy.

A call to invest in integrated solutions

As the session concluded, reflections focused on a broader question facing African agriculture: how can food systems investments deliver multiple outcomes simultaneously?

The RA-PURE model offers one possible answer: integrating regenerative agriculture with productive renewable energy solutions can help address productivity, climate adaptation, ecosystem restoration, rural enterprise development, and energy access through a single, interconnected framework. This approach can help build stronger, more resilient rural economies.

Realising this potential will require stronger policy alignment, innovative financing mechanisms, increased private-sector participation, and continued investment in evidence generation. It will also require a willingness to move beyond sectoral silos and embrace more integrated ways of thinking about development.