In the scorching heat of Tana River County, located in the Coast Region of Kenya. where temperatures soar past 42°C and drought is a constant threat affecting both livestock, plants and humans. One young researcher is working to bring back livestock insurance for the communities.
In a recent African Food Fellowship (AFF) graduation ceremony in Nairobi, I met Felix Odhiambo, a member of Cohort 4 of the AFF who was also graduating from the program which is a leadership program building a new generation of changemakers across Africa’s food systems.
His journey is not only inspiring but also serves as an inspiration to pastoralist communities across the country, who have long struggled to protect their livestock during both droughts and floods
From a concept about consumer agroecology to a groundbreaking livestock insurance reform shows how the right ideas, backed by the right support, can transform lives.
“The Fellowship has opened up countless opportunities for me,” says Odhiambo. “From refining my idea to exploring funding possibilities, it has changed how I see and act within food systems.”
Odhiambo began his fellowship with a relatively simple goal: educate consumers on organic food choices. “Most interventions focus on farmers, but I believed we also needed to shift consumer mindsets toward agroecology,” he recalls.
But his work as a researcher at the University of Nairobi, tied to a European Union project, helped him discover a bigger, more urgent problem in Kenya’s drylands, the collapse of a crucial livestock insurance scheme for pastoralists that was in existence but later halted by the current administration.
When Green is not more Green
The Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) program was once a lifeline for communities in Tana River. Introduced during President Kibaki’s tenure, IBLI used satellite technology to detect drought by measuring vegetation greenness (through a tool called NDVI) and provided payouts to pastoralists when fodder levels dropped.
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a satellite-based greenness indicator used in IBLI to trigger payouts. “The system measures greenness, but green doesn’t always mean edible or nutritious for livestock. A place may look green from space, but the vegetation might be thorny, fibrous, or unpalatable.”
“The issue wasn’t the idea but the precision. NDVI would show a region as green, but on the ground, the vegetation might be thorny, fibrous, or inedible for animals,” Odhiambo explains.
That is where he saw a gap he could fill. Armed with his training and field experience, Odhiambo launched a ground-truthing project of collecting real-time, on-the-ground data to calibrate NDVI readings more accurately.
“By combining satellite data with what’s actually happening in the field, we can bring the insurance model back, this time with more accuracy and fairness,” he says.
His research has now caught the attention of Absa Bank, actuarial scientists, and the County Government of Tana River, all of whom are collaborating to revive IBLI.
A Fellowship Fueling Big Ideas
Felix’s transformation from a passionate researcher to a national policy influencer is part of a growing movement under the African Food Fellowship, which has trained over 150 fellows in Kenya and 120 in Rwanda since 2020.
Managed by Wasafiri Consulting and Wageningen University & Research, and funded by the IKEA Foundation, AFF nurtures leaders across the agriculture ecosystem.
“We realized the biggest gap in food systems wasn’t a lack of knowledge or funding but leadership,” says Brenda Mareri, AFF’s Kenya Country Lead. “Our Fellows come from all walks of life including researchers, farmers, social media influencers, government officers and they learn to act systemically and collaboratively.”
While the Fellowship is a paid program (at $1,000 per participant), subsidies and scholarships are available for those who can’t afford the full fee. The value, Mareri says, lies far beyond training.
“We’re offering lifelong access to networks, collaboration, visibility, and growth. That’s what keeps our nearly 200 alumni coming back,” she adds.
Each Fellow completes a 10-month leadership program, covering modules such as foresight thinking, systems mapping, and policy engagement. Many use these tools to shape real-world projects, known as Food Systems Actions (FSAs).
“We’ve seen fellows help counties like Nakuru and Turkana redesign food security strategies. Others have worked on fisheries policy, food waste innovations, and carbon-financing through agriculture,” Mareri shares.
From Learning to Leading
Odhiambo is now preparing policy briefs, co-developed with stakeholders, to present to the National Treasury. His ultimate goal? Relaunch a more robust, evidence-driven livestock insurance model that can serve thousands of pastoralist families.
And he’s not stopping there. He’s actively engaging partners and financial institutions, calling for broader collaboration on youth-led solutions in climate resilience and dryland agriculture.
“Jesus fed 5,000 people with two fish and five loaves, and it was a young boy who offered them. Youth have what it takes. We just need the platform and support,” Felix says with a smile.
To support emerging leaders like Odhiambo, AFF recently launched the SM Action Fund, offering small grants to help alumni pilot their projects. While not a funding body, the Fellowship serves as a catalyst in helping ideas attract the partnerships and financing they need.
“We don’t just train and let people go. We keep supporting them, creating platforms where real partnerships and breakthroughs happen,” says Mareri.
Tech investors like Kris Senanu have already stepped in to mentor fellows. At AFF’s graduation ceremony this year, he shared, “The startups that succeed are those whose founders collaborate. The solution might be sitting two seats away dare to ask.”
AFF has bold ambitions. By 2030, it hopes to have at least 1,000 food system fellows across Africa, embedding leadership in every ministry, NGO, and grassroots movement that touches food.
“We want people to ask, ‘Are we leading in a way that truly shifts systems?’ That’s how we’ll transform agriculture, nutrition, and livelihoods,” Mareri says.
For Odhiambo, that transformation is already underway in the sweltering drylands of Tana River, where pastoralists are slowly regaining hope.
“The work has just begun. But with the right leadership, data, and collaboration, we can build food systems that protect lives and livestock,” he says. “Youth-led ideas work. Let’s invest in them. Let’s act on the data. And let’s transform our food systems not in the future, but now.”
