INTRODUCTION

The Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC), in collaboration with TradeMark Africa (TMA), convened a two-day Public-Private Policy Dialogue (PPPD) and Grain Trade Business-to-Business (B2B) Forum on 30^th -31^st March 2026 in Kigali, Rwanda. The forum brought together 72 delegates from the public and private sectors, including producers, traders, processors, exporters, importers, financial institutions, and government regulators from eight countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia and Ethiopia.

The forum provided a platform to review progress on previous policy commitments, deliberate on emerging trade challenges, strengthen collaboration between public and private sector actors, and facilitate structured grain trade through B2B engagements. The discussions reaffirmed the importance of predictable trade policies, efficient market systems, and strengthened regional integration frameworks in unlocking the full potential of intra-regional grain trade. Participants underscored the significant opportunities for trade driven by surplus-deficit dynamics across the region, while acknowledging persistent constraints including Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), policy unpredictability, infrastructure limitations and weak market coordination.

Click to read full communique