African economies remain highly vulnerable to global shocks and price fluctuations in the food market. Circular and regenerative strategies are becoming increasingly important for strengthening their resilience and competitiveness. However, most research on the circular economy comes from industrialized countries and focuses on industrial value chains. How circular practices unfold in emerging and developing countries, on the other hand, has hardly been researched to date.
Under the title “Paving The Path To A Sustainable Food System? Examining Circular Business Model Innovation In Rwanda's Agri-Food Sector,” researchers at the Africa Institute addressed this research gap together with their partners: They examined knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to circular business models in agricultural companies in Rwanda using a two-stage research design. In the first phase, they conducted semi-structured interviews with agricultural companies and a trade association. In the second phase, they discussed the results with a larger group of stakeholders from the agricultural and food sector in order to validate and classify them.
Circular economy in practice: results of the study
The results show that although profitability plays a role, many companies are also driven by environmental awareness and social responsibility and are committed to the circular economy despite limited political support. While many companies are familiar with the efficiency-enhancing and cost-cutting strategies of the circular economy, the more profound, transformative circular principles of the “10R Framework” are less well known and rarely implemented. Furthermore, circular economy practices are often applied but not referred to as such – one reason for this is that there is currently no common definition of the circular economy in the agri-food sector. This limits the possibilities for identifying, supporting, and expanding circular economy initiatives.
The researchers' conclusion: Greater cooperation within the industry, the use of business and start-up centers, and closer partnerships with universities could significantly accelerate innovation in the circular economy – beyond the existing international support programs.
About this publication
Kim, S.K., Taremwa, N.K., Vasanthakaalam, H. et al. Paving The Path To A Sustainable Food System? Examining Circular Business Model Innovation In Rwanda’s Agri-Food Sector. Circ.Econ.Sust. 6, 79 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-026-00749-x
The study was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (grant number 57570960) with funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
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Vanessa Robertson
