The session introduced ForAfrika and its work in South Sudan before defining agripreneurship as the identification and development of profitable opportunities across agricultural and food systems. It explained that entrepreneurs can create value through products and services at any stage between input supply and food consumption.

The presentation then examined food security as a systems problem. It described how weak connections between producers, storage facilities, transport services, processors and markets contribute to food losses and higher costs. Fisheries provided an example of how improved handling, preservation and transport can help more food reach consumers and increase earnings.

Participants were introduced to a framework for identifying opportunities: understand the driver or gap, determine what is needed, identify a product or service that creates value, and consider who can deliver it sustainably and profitably. Examples included fish drying and smoking, vegetable preservation, aggregation services, machinery hire, tool fabrication and repair, and supplying locally produced food to schools. The session stressed that a gap becomes a business opportunity when a customer is willing to pay for a solution.

ForAfrika’s Dynamic Development Continuum illustrated how support can evolve from humanitarian assistance towards self-reliance and commercial viability. The presentation linked business promotion with Youth Employment and Enterprise Development, Village Savings and Loan Associations, and stronger connections between producers, service providers and buyers.

Practical cases included fisheries in Pibor, vegetable enterprises in Gogrial West, and crop production supported by a “Farming as a Business” approach. These examples showed how productive assets and training can contribute to food supply, household income and reinvestment. Further examples covered aggregation centres, communal storage, processing equipment, transport services and producer–trader connections.

The session explored how savings groups can provide capital for small enterprises such as groundnut processing, grain trading and food businesses. The youth employment examples demonstrated how technical and entrepreneurship training, combined with start-up support, can help establish agro-dealers and businesses that fabricate or repair agricultural tools. Home-Grown School Feeding illustrated how schools can provide a predictable market for local farmers while improving children’s access to nutritious food.

The final sections addressed business practices and resilience. Participants were encouraged to begin with customer demand, build on existing skills and networks, plan for reinvestment and diversify products and markets. A framework for responding to shocks covered preparation before a disruption, continuity during the shock, and recovery and adaptation afterwards.

The presentation concluded by considering how these approaches could be adapted to Sudan, recognising differences in conflict, climate, infrastructure and market conditions. It also connected agripreneurship with the value chain, introducing the focus of the next session, and provided space for questions and answers.