For the 180 young people who walked the halls of the Kigali Convention Centre this month, the future of African farming was not an abstraction. It was a set of conversations, contacts and career possibilities laid out in front of them. Their participation in a dedicated youth program, run with the Rwanda Poultry Industry Association (RPIA), was one of the clearest signs of how VIV Africa 2026, which concluded in Kigali after three days, tried to put people at the centre of an industry gathering.
The fifth edition of the event brought together the Feed to Food industry for business, knowledge exchange and innovation. It opened with the Leadership Conference on October 6, followed by two exhibition days on October 7 and 8, drawing professionals from across Africa and international markets to share knowledge, discover technologies and practical solutions, and build new business relationships. Attendance set a record: 2,257 visitors from 69 countries, a figure the organizers point to as evidence of VIV Africa’s growing international reach as a meeting point for the animal protein and agribusiness sectors. The Leadership Conference itself drew 230 attendees, and 121 Industry Leaders took part in the 2026 edition.
On the exhibition floor, 153 exhibitors presented solutions spanning the Feed to Food value chain, from feed and animal health to breeding and hatching, farm production, processing and food engineering. Behind each stand were the people whose daily work those technologies touch: farmers, veterinarians, breeders, processors and engineers.
The human questions facing the sector came through most clearly in the conference program. Among the more than 30 speakers was Mary Were, Executive Director of the Kenya Poultry Farmers Association (KEPOFA), who explored how youth-led agribusiness can create sustainable livelihoods through poultry value chains. She also took up the question of East African feed sovereignty, focusing on local sourcing, land productivity and regional integration, issues that shape what farmers can grow, what feed costs and who benefits along the chain. Alongside her, Dr. Lawrence Ademu, Head of the Department of Animal Science at the Federal University Wukari in Nigeria, examined how stronger livestock cooperatives can improve quality and open access to markets, a topic with direct consequences for small producers trying to sell beyond their immediate surroundings.
Meanwhile, industry development carried over into the first exhibition day, when the Investment & Market Access Forum was held on October 7. Powered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) and the Rwanda Food Innovation Partnership (RFIP), the invitation-only breakfast session featured a panel discussion on the market outlook, followed by conversations on concrete investment opportunities in Rwanda. The forum also addressed barriers to financing and worked on connecting businesses with potential investors and partners to support the development of Africa’s feed-to-food value chain.
Making the right introductions was a theme of this year’s edition. VIV Africa 2026 saw the launch of the Hosted Buyer Program, which connected selected buyers with relevant exhibitors and supported focused business conversations during the event. Together with the Industry Leaders program and the meetings taking place across the exhibition floor, the initiative added further opportunities for targeted connections throughout the show.
The gathering also reached beyond the exhibition halls. Her Excellency Joan Wiegman, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Republic of Rwanda, hosted a networking evening at her residence, bringing together selected Dutch exhibitors and industry representatives. The evening extended the dialogue in a more informal setting, creating space for closer connections and exchanges around business opportunities, industry developments and collaboration within Rwanda and the wider region.
The strong participation in Kigali reflects growing engagement around Africa’s agrifood and animal protein sectors, and the opportunities emerging across the region. Building on that momentum, VIV Africa will take place annually from 2027, alternating between East and West Africa and creating more regular opportunities for the industry to connect across Sub-Saharan Africa. The next phase begins in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on October 6 and 7, 2027, marking the platform’s expansion into West Africa.
For the young participants, the farmers, the exhibitors and the speakers who filled the Kigali Convention Centre, the 2026 edition offered a measure of where the sector stands and where it is heading. The team behind VIV Africa extends its thanks to all exhibitors, visitors, speakers, Industry Leaders, partners and participating organizations who contributed to the 2026 edition in Kigali. Whether the connections made this month in Rwanda translate into new livelihoods and stronger cooperatives will be a question the next edition, in Abidjan, can begin to answer.