Transforming Agrifood systems with FAO (2023–2024)

Context:

South Sudan’s agrifood system faced persistent structural challenges, including fragmented policy frameworks, weak coordination between public and private actors, limited value-chain competitiveness, and a heavy reliance on humanitarian support. While policy initiatives existed, they often lacked alignment with market realities faced by producers, processors, and manufacturers. The objective of this initiative was to support a shift toward a more resilient, private sector–led agrifood system through practical policy reform, partnerships, and institutional coherence.

Action:

As a private sector representative, Kennedy worked alongside FAO and government counterparts to bridge policy objectives with real business constraints. He contributed to high-level policy dialogue, advocating for reforms that support local production, value addition, and manufacturing competitiveness.

His role focused on strengthening public–private collaboration, ensuring private sector voices informed agrifood policy design, and reframing agrifood transformation as a systems challenge linking policy, investment, skills development, and market access.

Result:

The initiative strengthened public–private dialogue and improved alignment between agrifood policies and private sector realities. It reinforced the role of manufacturing and value addition as critical pillars of food system resilience and contributed to national efforts to transition from humanitarian dependency toward sustainable, market-driven agrifood systems in South Sudan.