SNV at COP30: Driving locally led, globally backed climate action
From 6 to 21 November, SNV will participate in the 30th UN Climate Conference, COP30, which will take place in Belém, Brazil.
During the conference, SNV will focus on rethinking climate action with locally led, globally backed approaches.
Smallholders and local actors contribute the least to the climate crisis yet face its harshest impacts. They produce a third of the world’s food, carry generations of ecological knowledge, and pioneer solutions — from climate-resilient crops to regenerative farming. But these locally driven innovations urgently need greater support and scale.
SNV is calling for climate action that bridges global ambition and local leadership. This means making finance more accessible, integrating food, water, and energy systems, and centring equity, inclusion, and local ownership to deliver lasting impact.
Venue: Hangar Convention and Fair Centre of the Amazon, Belém, Brazil
Explore SNV’s thematic sessions COP30
See our agenda and thematic focus areas during COP30 or jump straight to the highlights:
Locally accessible global finance
UNFCCC Official side event
Connecting the Rio Conventions through landscape action: Governance and finance in practice
Thursday, 20 November | 15:30-16:30 UTC
Through integrating landscape approaches, the session will explore how: inclusive decision-making and community monitoring strengthens accountability and policy coherence; innovations in climate finance and emerging systems for monitoring and transparency help advance the goals of the three Rio Conventions. Learn more (insert link)
Location: Side Event Room 1
Partners: Commonland Foundation, EcoAgriculture Partners, The Proforest Initiative, Rainforest Alliance
Making the NDCs investable: Enabling conditions and innovative solutions.
Tuesday, 2 November | 9:30-10:30 UTC
This roundtable will be focused on turning climate commitments into action through investable NDCs. The discussion will provide an informal and exploratory space for ministers, businesses, and development partners to share perspectives on how countries can translate climate plans into concrete, bankable investments that drive progress toward net-zero and climate-resilient societies. Learn more (insert link)
Location: NDCP Pavilion
Organisers: Sida and SNV
Roundtable: Delivering on food system climate finance: Value for farmers, impact for the planet.
Thursday, 13 November | 16:30-17:30 UTC
Global food systems must transform to meet the challenges of a changing climate and build resilience for farmers and communities. Yet, the finance and support needed to enable this transformation are still not reaching the farmers who produce our food.
This roundtable will explore practical, scalable mechanisms that strengthen resilience, enhance climate outcomes, and deliver tangible value to producers. Learn more (insert link)
Location: Action on Food Hub
Organisers: CA4SH, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), IDH, SNV
Plenary: Climate finance for soil health
Friday, 14 November | 14:00-15:00 UTC
This session will explore why the soil health finance gap persists and how to close it. It will bring together diverse stakeholders to examine where private and public finance can most effectively drive soil health outcomes, and where each sector faces limitations. Discussions will highlight innovative, farmer-centered finance models, such as blended finance, and enabling conditions, such as policy incentives that de-risk investments, ensuring resources can reach farmers on the ground.. Learn more (insert link)
Location: Action on Food Hub
Partners: CA4SH, CIFOR-ICRAF, GIZ (Lead), SNV, One Acre Fund
Side event: Food, finance, and climate | Overcoming barriers and unlocking solutions to scale agricultural adaptation
Tuesday, 18 November | 14:00-15:00 UTC
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Location: Food System Pavilion
Partners: Alliance CIAT-Bioversity, IFD, WWF
Financing resilient landscapes: Catalysing partnerships for irrigation, land reclamation, and climate resilience in Africa’s arid & semi-arid regions
Wednesday, 19 November | 10:30-11:45 UTC
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Location: Water for Climate Pavilion
Partners: Ministry of Water, Kenya, SNV
Green Zone event: Global soil regeneration dialogue | Africa, EU, Americas cooperation for restoring degraded Lands
Thursday, 20 November | 14:00-15:15 UTC
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Location: EMBRAPA Agri-Zone
Partners: AGRA, IFDC, SNV
Integration of food, water and energy
Policy workshop: From silos to synergies for a cohesive food & climate agenda
Wednesday 12 November | 14:00-16:30 UTC
This workshop would focus on the need for integrated and collaborative policy-making across different sectors and conventions. The goal is to move beyond siloed discussions to create a more unified approach to climate, food, and biodiversity.. Learn more (insert link)
Location: Action on Food Hub
Partners: ILRI, CIWF, GPC, Bread for the World, SNV
Roundtable: Regenerative agriculture for healthy soil and healthy diets
Thursday, 13 November | 10:45-11:45 UTC
This high-level roundtable will spotlight the COP30 Action Agenda Plan to Accelerate Regenerative Agriculture for Healthy Soil and Healthy Diets, a tactical, time-bound roadmap to move from ambition to implementation. It will bring together diverse stakeholders to co-design pathways to scale regenerative agriculture that nourishes both people and the planet — linking science, policy, and finance to build healthy soil, improve diets, and transform food systems from the soil to the plate. Learn more (insert link)
Location: Action on Food Hub
Partners: CA4SH, CIFOR-ICRAF, GIZ, SNV
Plenary: Grasslands in the climate-biodiversity-land restoration nexus: integrating policy across the Rio Conventions
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Thursday, 13 November | 10:45-11:45 UTC
Learn more (insert link)
Location: Action on Food Hub
Partners: WWF, ILRI, SNV
Feeding futures: How school meals drive nutrition, markets, and equity
Tuesday, 2 September | 08:30-10:00 GMT
School feeding programmes play a crucial role in advancing nutrition, while simultaneously strengthening local agricultural markets and promoting equity. By sourcing food from local farmers, these programmes not only ensure that children receive nutritious meals but also support the agricultural community. This approach fosters sustainable farming practices, boosts local economies, and creates a more equitable food system. Through school feeding initiatives, we can build a healthier future for our children, creating demand for underutilized nutritious foods, and a more resilient agricultural sector.
Location: Press Conference Room
Organisers: AGRA, Rockefeller, SNV, Food 4 Education, AUDAD / NEPAD, Welthungerhilfe, IDRC
Re-imagine the future of leadership and catalysts for food systems transformation
Tuesday, 2 September | 08:30-10:00 GMT
In this interactive speed dating, panel discussion and strategic foresight workshop, youth leaders, experts and more experienced experts (investors, policymakers, corporates, private sector, academia, development partners) will come together to re-imagine the future of leadership in food systems, facilitate dialogue and create the connections needed to foster sustainable systems transformation.
We will unpack the four critical catalysts for food systems transformation including: ecosystem coordination, economic opportunities for youth, intergenerational dialogue and youth leadership.
Location: Knowledge Hub – Stage 2
Organisers: SNV, IFAD, Netherlands Food Partnership (NFP), UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship (ECE)
From idea to investment: How technical assistance and finance unlocks youth-led innovation
Tuesday, 2 September | 10:30-12:00 GMT
Young entrepreneurs across West Africa are leading innovative agri-food solutions in the face of compounding challenges including climate change, food insecurity, and economic inequality. Yet access to finance remains a persistent barrier. This session will explore how targeted support – particularly technical assistance – can bridge the gap between promising ideas and investment readiness. The session will feature real-world examples of youth-led businesses using innovation to scale impact. Speakers will share practical experiences on building capacity, improving bankability, and unlocking blended finance. Youth voices will be at the heart of the conversation, while ecosystem actors reflect on how enabling environments and public-private partnerships can help de-risk early-stage enterprises. The session aims to catalyse new collaborations and mobilise inclusive investment across the region.
Location: Press Conference Room
Organisers: Rabo Foundation, SNV, Investisseurs & Partenaires, APIX, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Agriterra
GoGettaz Finale Pitch
Tuesday, 2 September | 11:30-13:00 GMT
The GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition is a showcase for Africa’s cutting-edge agri-food businesses. Finalists will have the opportunity to present their businesses on stage at the AFS Forum.
The annual flagship GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition has activated a community of 17,000+ young founders/co-founders of high-potential agrifood businesses in Africa, all with the ambition to create cutting edge businesses, leveraging new technologies including climate adaptation innovations and access to markets, to eventually make Africa the breadbasket of the world.
Location: Youth Dome
Organisers: AFS Forum, SNV, Yara International, Econet, AGRA, Mastercard Foundation, SACAU
Thematic session
Future-proofing West African food systems: Unlocking the potential of climate adaptation for empowering Africa’s youth
Tuesday, 2 September | 18:00-19:30 GMT
Responding to climate change challenges in African agriculture and food systems requires a paradigm shift from business-as-usual to a transformative approach that yields actionable solutions and outcomes. This session will present a transformative approach illustrated with cases of gender and youth inclusion in the scaling of climate-smart agriculture and climate information services in West and Central Africa. It will present how science-based solutions and innovative partnerships have been vital to successful development outcomes and discuss lessons learned for scaling across Africa. The goal is to inform the wider AR4D communities, development practitioners, and funders of agricultural research in Africa.
Location: Thematic Room
Organisers: SNV, ILRI, CGIAR, AGRA, ILRI
Launch event
Powering resilient food systems: Building a movement
Tuesday, 2 September | 18:00-19:30 GMT
Join us for the Power for Food Partnership launch and learn more about a new movement to reshape Africa’s agri-food systems. The new partnership coordinated by SNV and supported by IKEA Foundation is working with ecosystem actors, in particular smallholder farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises, to adopt regenerative practices powered by renewable energy.
Our vision is renewable energy-driven, resilient food systems where people have equitable opportunities to thrive sustainably.
Join the movement for resilient, renewable, and regenerative food systems.
Location: Room B1, Four Points hotel, Dakar, Senegal
Organisers: SNV, IKEA Foundation, Acumen, Efficiency for Access, GOGLA, The Food and Land use Coalition, Wasafiri
Sessions: Wednesday, 3 Sept
Youth agri-food innovation showcase
Wednesday, 3 September | 11:30-1:00 GMT
Africa's agri-food systems' future is in the hands of its young people, who are innovators, bold thinkers, and entrepreneurs, redesigning the continent’s agri-food systems. The growing concerns about food insecurity remain a serious challenge on the continent. However, embracing bold innovation can play a significant role in achieving food security by boosting agricultural productivity, creating and facilitating market-driven products and linkages, improving holistic food systems, and offering value and business opportunities across the value chains. The key question is how stakeholders can lead systemic change by engaging and supporting youth-led innovations in agri-food systems.
This Youth Dome Innovation Showcase is not just a conversation; it is a call to action that builds on this year's theme of the Africa Food Systems Forum. It will be a learning platform that demonstrates how youth-led innovations are addressing real problems and driving Africa's transformation of its agri-food systems.
Location: Youth Dome.
Organisers: AGRA, SNV, Mastercard Foundation, Heifer International, CABI, FAO Africa, GAIN and CGIAR.
Thematic session
Regenerating Africa: How young agripreneurs are leading food systems transformation
Wednesday, 3 September | 12:00-13:30 GMT
The session will highlight the role of African youth agripreneurs in advancing agroecology as a transformative pathway for sustainable food systems. Through an interactive dialogue format, real-world case studies, and cross-sectoral engagement, the session will demonstrate how agroecological principles—diversification, soil regeneration, circular economies, and local governance—are being put into action by young innovators. It will also unpack the enabling conditions needed—such as policy alignment, access to finance, and knowledge networks—to mainstream youth-led agroecological solutions across the continent.
Location: Thematic Room
Organisers: Biovision Foundation, SNV
A conversation with Energy Ministers on food systems transformation: Green Energy – Powering and investing in food systems value chains
Wednesday, 3 September | 14:00-16:00 GMT
The intertwining of agri-food systems, energy, and climate offers a unique opportunity to reinvent the continent’s approach to feeding its growing population while realizing inclusive economic growth, employment generation, and development targets, i.e., nutrition and food security. These three aspects, when integrated, can serve as transformative forces to enhance productivity, reduce environmental stress, and empower communities. The absence of reliable energy sources hampers irrigation, cold storage, and food processing, contributing to post-harvest losses and inefficient use of resources. Further sub-Saharan Africa accounts for less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions yet faces disproportionate climate impacts. Addressing these challenges demands a holistic approach that integrates climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy solutions, and sustainable practices to create mutually reinforcing interlinkages between agriculture and clean energy that transform the continent’s agri-food systems
The session will present the latest DRE solutions, offering evidence-based research on commercially viable business models and experiences where such DRE solutions are proving transformative. In addition, the session will showcase methodologies and approaches by governments and development partners that are incentivizing the scaling up of a sustainable transformative market, promoting cross-sector coordination, and mobilizing high-level commitment through a shared Call to Action.
Location: Oval Room
Organisers: AGRA, GOGLA, SNV
Stakeholder roundtable – Youth networking event
Wednesday, 3 September | 16:30–17:00 GMT
A stakeholder roundtable and networking event bringing together key actors — including donors and youth partners — to exchange best practices, share lessons learned, and promote a collaborative approach to transforming food systems across Africa in an evolving donor landscape.
The event will showcase youth voices and impact stories focused on employment and entrepreneurship. To conclude, SNV will launch its new Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship (YEE) Strategy 2025–2030, co-created with ecosystem partners.
Location: Youth Dome - Hall D
Organisers: AGRA (Generation Africa), SNV, ALU
Sessions: Thursday, 4 Sept
Powering agriculture, accelerating action for decentralized renewable energy in food systems
Thursday, 4 September | 08:30-10:00 GMT
As per the recent Kampala Declaration by the CAADP, agriculture requires a complementary approach that integrates energy, market access, among others. This session explores the potential of Renewable Energy (RE), particularly the decentralized renewable energy (DRE) solutions, to power transformative change in African food systems. With climate risks intensifying and energy access still limited, particularly in rural areas, integrating solar and other DRE solutions into food systems offers a path to sustainability, resilience, and inclusive growth.
Drawing on insights and experiences from leading countries, the event will spotlight innovative financing mechanisms, cross-sector partnership models, and coordinated strategies that align DRE solutions with food system transformation.
Location: Knowledge Hub – Stage 1
Organisers: GOGLA, SNV, IKEA Foundation
From margins to mainstream: Recognising the role of pastoralism in food systems transformation
Thursday, 4 September | 08:30-10:00 GMT
It is almost impossible to overstate the importance of pastoralist systems in Africa. Pastoralist systems are a critical source of income and nutrition for over 268 million people across 36 countries. In West Africa, pastoralists produce about 65% of the region’s beef and 75% of its milk. Beyond food, these systems offer social, cultural, and environmental benefits.
This session will make the case for investing in pastoralist food systems, showcase innovations in West African livestock systems and opportunities for the youth and women to contribute, and examine the policy and financing shifts required. It will offer concrete recommendations for AFSF and the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralism.
Location: Oval Room
Organisers: ILRI, IFAD, GIZ, SNV, AU-IBAR
Powering Africa's food and nutrition goals
Thursday, 4 September | 12:00 – 13:00 GMT
This session will highlight the role of decentralised renewable energy in powering agriculture—through real-world cases that demonstrate how DRE can enhance food systems, incomes, and nutrition in rural communities. It will emphasise the need for integrated energy planning that includes off-grid solutions.
Location: Oval Room
Organisers: GIZ, GAIN, REEEP, GOGLA and SNV
Powering Africa's food and nutrition goals
Thursday, 4 September | 12:00 – 13:00 GMT
This session will highlight the role of decentralised renewable energy in powering agriculture—through real-world cases that demonstrate how DRE can enhance food systems, incomes, and nutrition in rural communities. It will emphasise the need for integrated energy planning that includes off-grid solutions.
Location: Oval Room
Organisers: GIZ, GAIN, REEEP, GOGLA and SNV
Agri-Energy in focus: Aligning for greater impact
Thursday, 4 September | 14:00 – 16:00 GMT
An interactive partner dialogue focused on strengthening collaboration and scaling agri-energy impact across Africa.
Location: AGRA board room
Organisers: GOGLA, SNV, SEforALL, Partners in Food for Solutions, and Wageningen University
Thematic session
Empowering African youth, women, and farmers for climate action in food systems
Thursday, 4 September | 14:30-16:00 GMT
Increasing global temperature and more frequent, intense, and severe extreme weather events are causing more displacements and disrupting the livelihoods of millions, placing considerable stress on Africa’s agriculture sector. African youth are recognised as both vulnerable to climate change and strong advocates for climate action.
At the upcoming ‘Trio convention’ in Brazil, youth are expected to present disruptive ideas, business opportunities, and investment plans for climate action. By exchanging policies, financing mechanisms, and innovations that address climate change mitigation and adaption, this session aims to well-equip African youth to negotiate for Africa food systems transformation on the global stage.
Location: Thematic Room
Organisers: AGRA, SNV, CGIAR, AfDB
Thematic session
The nexus game: Powering food, climate and equity trade-offs in real-time
Thursday, 4 September | 16:30 – 18:30 GMT
This session will explore integrated approaches to improve energy access for water, irrigation, and food systems, highlighting innovative solutions and collaborative action.
Location: Thematic Room
Organisers: International Water Management Institute (CGIAR), GAIN, SNV, and Wageningen University & Research (WUR)
Inside the Youth Dome: Voices, insights, and opportunities
Step into the Youth Dome to engage with diverse voices, fresh insights, and meaningful opportunities. Join the conversation and help shape the future of agri-food systems. #YouthEmpowerment
Masterclass session
Unlocking technical assistance in Africa
Wednesday, 3 September | 13:00-15:00 GMT
A dynamic masterclass designed to demystify Technical Assistance (TA) and its power to unlock growth for African agribusinesses.
Tailored for SMEs and youth, and delivered by investors and development actors grounded in practice, this interactive session will explore how TA supports investment readiness, drives inclusive business growth, and de-risks finance in climate-resilient value chains.
Through real-world case studies, funding insights, and practical guidance, participants will discover how to access TA, what it involves, and how to equip businesses with the tools they need to effectively access and leverage technical assistance. Participants will also gain insight into the roles and responsibilities of participating in Technical Assistance.
If you're aiming to scale your business impact in agri-food systems, this is your roadmap to smarter, more sustainable investment.
Location: Knowledge Hub – Stage 2
Organisers: IFAD and SNV
