Thule Lenneiye - Food Security

[transition sound] So, i-- there's been a shift in the ecosystem, w- in certain, uh, sectors of the ecosystem, that national security is food security, or food security is national security.

If you have hunger in certain areas, you will see migration.

Mm-hmm.

We see it in Kenya from the north coming down south.

Um, if there is a sudden drought or floods, communities do have to move because it is about survival, right? And if now there's clashes based on that, we've seen the clashes based on access to water.

Yeah.

As basic as that, and that water is meant to feed you.

It's meant to enable your, uh, your, your agriculture product to survive, your family to thrive.

Um, so in general, I think now we should be now viewing food security as national security.

So [transition sound] food security is often framed as a problem of agricultural production, where when food becomes unaffordable, when harvest cannot reach markets, or when countries depend on fragile external supply routes, the consequences can become economic, political, and strategic.

Our guest today is Thuli Ganyane, Chief of Staff at AGRA.

Her career has crossed technology, government delivery, agricultural investment, climate resilience, and continental food system leadership.

Before joining AGRA's senior leadership, she coordinated Kenya's Agricultural Transformation office.

Today, we ask what it means to treat food as national security, what Africa must build to feed itself more reliably, and how the continent can work with the world without surrendering control of its food systems.

[transition sound] From Cairo to Cape Town, Lagos to Lamu, 54 nations, one continent, countless perspectives.

I am Mwaura Njoroge.

Welcome to Panel 54, a global perspective through an African lens.

This is the podcast where we unpack power, policy people, and the paradoxes that define our time, with nuance, with history, and with a deliberate commitment to context.

This isn't punditry, it's perspective.

It's not a briefing, it's a reframing, and it starts right here.

[upbeat instrumental music] Thuli, welcome to Panel 54.

Great to have you here.

Great to be here.

Yeah.