INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF THE CONFERENCE
The global Agri-Food landscape is facing unprecedented challenges. Driven by erratic climate
patterns, degrading land resources, shifting market dynamics, and a rapidly growing population,
traditional agricultural practices are no longer sufficient to guarantee food and nutrition security.
To achieve sustainable transformation, higher education and research institutions must step into
leadership roles, translating scientific discovery into scalable, real-world field solutions. As a
premier institution of agricultural learning in East Africa, the Faculty of Agriculture at the
University of Nairobi recognizes its pivotal responsibility. In alignment with the university’s
overarching vision of transforming society through research excellence and emerging
technologies, this conference serves as a strategic forum. This conference hosted by the Faculty of
Agriculture aims to chart an actionable path toward sustainable and resilient Agri-food systems by
showcasing data-driven multi-disciplinary research across four core pillars:
1. Food safety and technology
2. Plant health and crop protection
3. Sustainable land management
4. Agricultural economics, market dynamics, policy, institutions and extension.
CONFERENCE THEME AND OBJECTIVES
MAIN THEME
"Sustainable Agri-Food Systems: Integrating Technology, Climate Resilience, and Economic
Policy for Global Impact."
DETAILED SUBTHEMES
Subtheme 1: Sustainable School Feeding, Bridging Food Science, Agriculture, and Nutrition
for Future Generations and all life cycles
This School Feeding Edition workshop will showcase the diverse approaches the government is
taking to design, deliver and strengthen school meals, drawing on insights from the Food for
Education case study among other partners offering school feeding programmes.
1. Designing Balanced Menus for Better Nutrition outcomes and Optimal Learning.
2. Cost-Effective Sourcing and Procurement for School Feeding Programmes
3. Cultivating Nutritious Crops for School and Home-Grown Gardens.
4. Food Safety and Quality: Ensuring Safe and Nutritious Meals in Schools.
5. Foods, Nutrition and Dietetics, Food Safety and Quality for All Life Cycle.
Subtheme 2: Empowering global agriculture by fusing climate-resilient plant sciences with
AI-driven precision crop protection for sustainable food security
This track explores genetic and agronomic innovations designed to optimize crop yields while
protecting natural ecosystems from pest and disease pressures.
1. Advanced biotechnology, gene-editing, and breeding techniques for climate-resilient crop
varieties.
2. Next-generation crop protection: Utilizing AI, remote sensing, and precision drone
technology for disease monitoring and pest control.
3. Sustainable agronomic practices, agro-ecology, and biological conservation methods for
soil and plant health.
4. Seed science development, international phytosanitary compliance, and reducing barriers
in crop trade.
Subtheme 3: Sustainable Soil, Land, Water, and Dryland Resource Management for
Climate-Resilient Agri-Food Systems
1. Soil Health, Fertility, and Regenerative Agriculture.
2. Sustainable Land Management, Land Degradation Neutrality, and Ecosystem Restoration.
3. Agricultural Water Management, and Smart Irrigation Technologies.
4. Climate-Smart Agriculture, Dryland Resource Management, and Pastoral Resilience.
5. Precision Agriculture, Digital Soil Mapping, GIS, Remote Sensing, and Land Use
Planning.
6. Soil and Water Conservation, Wildlife management, Biodiversity Conservation, and
Carbon Sequestration.
7. Natural Resource Governance, and Sustainable Livelihoods, Landscape Restoration.
Subtheme 4: Agri-Food Economics, Commercialization, Institutions, Extension and Policy
Reforms
1. Agricultural knowledge management, Technology Transfer and Innovation for Sustainable
Agri-Food Systems
2. Digital Agricultural Extension and Climate Smart Advisory Services for Resilient Agri-
Food Systems
3. Smallholder Commercialization and Livelihood Diversification
4. Emerging Policy Issues and ICT in Agriculture
5. Building Resilience in Agri-enterprises
6. Emerging Role of Cooperatives and Farmer Organizations in Devolved Economies
Subtheme 5: Harnessing Cutting-Edge Innovation and Digital Technologies to Drive
Climate-Resilient, Economically Viable, and Inclusive Agri-Food Systems.
1. The Intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Indigenous Knowledge.
2. Gender, Youth Inclusivity, and Green Financing in Agri-Food Systems.
3. The Nexus between Agriculture, Nutrition and Health
ABSTRACT PREPARATION AND FORMATTING RULES
The abstract should be written in English language in MS word or rich text format and have a
maximum of 300 words in times new roman font size 12. The abstract must have the following
details:
Concise title (maximum 15 words)
Names of authors, their affiliation and mailing address and the corresponding author
contacts
The body of the abstract should contain the objective(s), methodology, results, discussion
and conclusions/recommendations
Key words
All abstracts must be relevant to the conference theme and aligned to one or more of the five
conference sub-themes
EXPECTED OUTCOMES AND IMPACT
Published Proceedings: Publication of a peer-reviewed Conference Abstract Book and
selected high-impact papers in high-ranking, open-access international journals.
Policy Briefs: Compilation of actionable policy documents submitted directly to the
Relevant agencies
Technological Showcases: Established partnerships between student inventors, faculty
researchers, and venture capitalists to commercialize displayed Agri-tech prototypes.
Strategic Tripartite Alliances: Formalized Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs)
bridging Academia, Industry, and Government to fund joint long-term research initiatives.