Inclusive Business Models: Reflections from Rikolto's session at the Africa Food Systems Forum 2025

At the Africa Food Systems Forum 2025 in Dakar, Senegal, from 31 August to 5 September, Rikolto had the opportunity to bring together colleagues, partners and allies from 10 countries across East and West Africa for a side event on 'Inclusive Agri-Food Business Models: Empowering Youth and Women for Food Systems Transformation". The discussion served as both a meeting point for diverse food systems actors across the continent, and an opportunity to make complex concepts more tangible.

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As well as serving as a meeting point for various stakeholders working on food systems across the African continent, the Africa Food Systems Forum 2025, held in Dakar, brought together Rikolto colleagues, partners and allies from 10 countries in West and East Africa.

Creating a physical space for such diverse and broad perspectives on challenges and solutions around food systems, which are not often covered by mainstream media, was meaningful and necessary.

In this space, Rikolto and its partners organised a side event on 'Inclusive Agri-Food Business Models: Empowering Youth and Women in Food Systems Transformation." Although the name might sound a bit abstract, the speakers did a great job of making those big words tangible.

The conversation attracted over 100 participants, including many young people, as well as entrepreneurs, business leaders, and practitioners from across the continent.

The discussions covered familiar topics within the agribusiness ecosystem: the importance of professionalisation in building confidence with buyers; the fact that "finance alone is rarely sufficient" without knowledge and skills; the potential of listening to customers to unlock opportunities for local value addition; and the ongoing barriers faced by women entrepreneurs in accessing finance and land, as well as overcoming social norms.

These insights set the stage for the deeper reflections shared during the session, which we explore below.

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What do we mean by inclusive business?

At Rikolto, inclusive business refers to equitable and sustainable trading relationships that benefit all actors in the food value chain, particularly smallholder farmers and low-income consumers. This approach emphasises long-term collaboration, fair distribution of risks and profits, and the active involvement of groups often excluded from decision-making, including women and young people.

To guide this work, Rikolto uses different approaches and tools, such as the Agribusiness Cluster (ABC) methodology developed by iCRA and SCOPEinsight, together with the LINK methodology from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).

By fostering these change on how commercial dynamics are happening, Rikolto's aim is to contribute to food systems where nutritious, healthy food is accessible and affordable to the majority of consumers.

Inclusive business in practice

As part of the session, our colleague Hilda Okoth brought the concept of inclusive business to life. Drawing on Rikolto's experience in Burkina Faso and Tanzania, she shared how inclusive models are being developed together with local partners, and how they might create new opportunities for women and young entrepreneurs in their specific contexts.

Burkina Faso: A women-led franchise model

In Burkina Faso, Rikolto and the National Union of Women Rice Parboilers (UNERIZ) co-created and tested a franchise business model that started in 2027. The model allows women to parboil rice at home. UNERIZ acts as franchisor, providing services and training, while women are the franchisees. Parboiling is a traditional process involving the soaking, steaming and drying of paddy grains before milling.

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