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ANAPRI Secretariat Executive Director, Dr Antony Chapoto, was in Beijing, China, for the 2026 World AgriFood Innovation Conference (WAFI), which took place from 17 to 19 September 2026. Alongside his participation in the conference, Dr Chapoto also engaged Chinese institutions and stakeholders on opportunities to strengthen agricultural knowledge, innovation and policy cooperation between Africa and China.
Central to these engagements was a commitment to listen and learn while sharing Africa’s evidence, priorities and institutional experience.
Building a two-way knowledge exchange
China’s agricultural transformation provides a rich body of experience in agricultural research and innovation, technology adoption, infrastructure, value-chain development, digitalisation, and linking research and technology with policy and implementation.
Africa, at the same time, has diverse agricultural systems, considerable local knowledge and innovation, and valuable experience of what works—and what does not—across different national and local contexts.
The goal was therefore not simply to transfer technologies or approaches from China to Africa. It was to create stronger channels for two-way learning and knowledge exchange. This involved identifying which experiences were relevant, understanding how technologies and approaches can be adapted to local conditions, and recognising what Africa’s evidence and experience could contribute to the wider relationship.
Interrogating the role of AI in African agrifood systems
Ahead of the main WAFI programme, Dr Chapoto participated in a pre-conference session on AI for Agriculture. The session was particularly timely for ANAPRI as the Network prepares for its 13th Annual Stakeholders Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in October 2026.
During the ANAPRI Conference, a dedicated session will examine the Political Economy of AI in Agrifood Systems. This will be complemented by a pre-conference workshop focused on AI and food systems in Africa.
The potential applications of AI are significant. They extend from agricultural research, soil management and crop production to extension services, market intelligence, climate-risk management and policy analysis.
However, ANAPRI’s interest goes beyond the technology itself. The rapid expansion of AI raises several important questions for African agrifood systems:
- Who defines the problems that AI is being developed to solve?
- Who generates, owns and governs the data on which these technologies depend?
- What technical and institutional capabilities do African institutions require?
- How can applications be tested and adapted to Africa’s diverse agricultural conditions?
- What policies and institutional arrangements will ensure that AI delivers broad-based benefits?
The discussions in China provided valuable perspectives that could enrich ANAPRI’s Africa-focused dialogue in Addis Ababa. They also created possibilities for continued engagement with Chinese researchers and institutions.
This reflected the kind of knowledge exchange ANAPRI seeks to strengthen: learning from developments elsewhere, examining their relevance to African contexts, and ensuring that African evidence, priorities and experience contribute to the global conversation.
African researchers and institutions must participate actively in this emerging field. Their role should include helping to define the problems technologies address, strengthening the data and policy systems on which those technologies depend, and ensuring that proposed solutions are tested against African realities.
Contributing to the WAFI programme
On 18 September, Dr Chapoto participated in the World Agrifood Scientists Forum. The Forum explored how scientific innovation could help agrifood systems respond to climate change and how knowledge and experience could be shared across borders and applied in diverse local contexts.
On 19 September, he also participated in the China–Africa Agricultural Science and Technology Industrial Cooperation Parallel Session.
Dr Chapoto’s intervention examined a question of particular importance from an agricultural policy perspective: What policy and institutional conditions must African countries establish to create markets that enable useful agricultural technologies to be adopted and scaled while attracting sustained private-sector investment?
Technological innovation alone is not sufficient. Agricultural technologies require enabling policies, effective institutions, functioning markets, appropriate infrastructure and investment environments that encourage adoption while responding to the needs of farmers and other agrifood-system actors.
Building sustained institutional partnerships
Beyond the formal conference programme, Dr Chapoto visited and engaged with several institutions and stakeholders in China.
These engagements provided an opportunity to introduce ANAPRI and the capabilities of its network of nationally embedded agricultural policy research institutes. They also enabled ANAPRI to learn more about China’s agricultural research and innovation ecosystem and identify areas in which sustained institutional partnerships could be developed.
An important outcome of the visit was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between ANAPRI and the Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy (AGFEP) at China Agricultural University (CAU) on 18 September 2026.
The MOU established a formal framework for sustained institutional cooperation in areas including:
- Joint research and policy analysis
- Policy learning and knowledge exchange
- Institutional and researcher exchanges
- Capacity development
- AI and digital agriculture
- Agricultural technology assessment and adaptation
- Stronger connections between researchers and policymakers in Africa and China
The agreement marked an important step towards building an Africa–China agricultural knowledge bridge. It created a foundation for collaboration that extends beyond individual meetings or projects, supporting sustained knowledge exchange, stronger institutional capabilities and the adaptation of agricultural innovations to African contexts.
Towards an Africa–China agricultural knowledge bridge
For ANAPRI, the longer-term goal is to help strengthen an Africa–China agricultural knowledge bridge.
Such a bridge would connect African policy research institutes and governments with Chinese research, knowledge and innovation. It would also create stronger channels through which African evidence, experience and innovation could inform China–Africa agricultural cooperation.
This relationship should be based on mutual learning and respect for local contexts. It should help institutions on both sides identify relevant lessons, jointly examine policy and investment challenges, and develop solutions that reflect the realities of African agrifood systems.
Ultimately, knowledge exchange should lead somewhere: better understanding, stronger institutions, technologies adapted to local realities, improved policy and investment decisions, and practical solutions to the challenges facing our agrifood systems.
The task now is to turn Africa–China knowledge exchange into stronger institutional capability, better policy and agricultural transformation at scale.