Utunzi Africa at AVA Summit Ghana 2026

In July, Utunzi Africa joined hundreds of animal advocates, researchers, funders, and movement leaders from across the continent and beyond at the AVA Summit Ghana, held July 16–19, 2026, at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra. Representing Utunzi Africa were our team members Charles Imo and Stephen Ouma, who traveled to Ghana to connect with the growing African animal welfare movement and share our work advancing cage-free egg production in Kenya. This was a Continental Gathering for Farmed Animal Advocacy.

AVA Summit Ghana is part of the AVA International global conference series, bringing together advocates working to build a more humane food system across Africa. True to the movement's commitment to regional leadership, the vast majority of sessions were led by African speakers, offering a rare and valuable space for evidence-based strategy, coalition-building, and context-specific solutions to be shared among peers who understand the realities of advocacy on the continent.

For Charles and Stephen, the summit was an opportunity to learn from advocates tackling similar challenges in different corners of Africa, to strengthen relationships within the regional cage-free and farmed animal welfare community, and to bring fresh ideas back to our work in Kenya.

A highlight of our participation was Stephen Ouma's joint presentation, moderated by Alex Suchy of the Humane league and delivered alongside Zwelisha Shobede of SAFCEI(South Africa) and Nabil Yakubu of Nigeria, on the Cage-Free Kenya Directory and the broader push to advance cage-free egg production across the country. The session walked attendees through how the directory is helping track and drive corporate cage-free commitments in Kenya, the progress made so far with hotels, bakeries, and food businesses, and the practical lessons learned from engaging companies on more humane sourcing practices.

The presentation resonated with advocates from other regions working on similar corporate engagement campaigns, sparking valuable conversations about how tools like the directory could be adapted and applied in other African markets facing comparable barriers to cage-free adoption.

Moments like AVA Summit Ghana remind us that the fight for farmed animal welfare in Kenya is part of a much larger, connected movement across Africa. The relationships built and lessons exchanged in Accra will directly inform how we continue to grow the Cage-Free Kenya Directory, engage new corporate partners, and push for stronger, more humane standards in Kenya's poultry supply chains.

We're grateful to AVA International for creating this platform, and to everyone who engaged with our work in Accra. The journey toward a cage-free Kenya continues, and we're proud to be advancing it alongside a movement of committed advocates across the continent.

Follow Utunzi Africa for updates on our cage-free campaign and other animal welfare work across Kenya.