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UN Food Systems Envoy Responds To Climate Inaction

Posted on March 24, 2023June 13, 2023 by AGRA Content Hub

“How long will inaction define us,” ponders Dr. Agnes Kalibata. The Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for the 2021 Food Systems Summit has joined me via Zoom to discuss the future of agriculture in Africa. I immediately pick up on her frustration with the inability of rich nations to follow through on emissions plans and climate finance pledges, despite their sizeable contribution to the climate change challenge.

As the President of AGRA (formerly Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa), an NGO that works to improve the productivity and livelihoods of the region’s smallholder farmers, Kalibata believes that the continent would be more resilient to climate change if it received Marshall plan-style “real” investments as opposed to incremental solutions that have not enabled comprehensive change.

*Dr Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA, says that the world has let Africa down.*

Climate change impacts have prevented African countries from capitalizing on the development potential of a thriving agricultural sector. Still, the African Development Bank is confident that with the aid of ambitious investments, barriers to agricultural development could be removed and Africa’s agricultural output could rise from $280 billion per year to $1 trillion by 2030.

Kalibata, a farmer’s daughter cum former Rwandan Minister of Agriculture, knows first-hand the power of agriculture to alleviate poverty and create economic stability.

She recounts what it felt like to resuscitate the agricultural sector of Rwanda during her six years as Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (2008-2014) and describes the euphoria she experienced when her efforts resulted in 20% growth of the national economy.

“You could feel the transformation going on all around you,” she recalls. “Business was happening where previously there was none.”

But as Kalibata concluded her ministerial term— having led the shift of the Central African nation from food insecure to food secure— farmers would begin to experience the climate change-induced impact of failed seasons.

“You have a farmer who puts all of their savings in a crop, and then the rain fails…” She shakes her head. “You’re talking about a very small capital base, and that can be taken away in just one drought season.”

Today, almost a decade following her years at the helm of Rwanda’s agriculture sector, the impacts of climate change on the African continent have gotten progressively worse. Temperatures have risen at a faster pace than the global average; extreme weather, droughts, degraded lands, floods, and inundation of destructive pests have had devastating impacts on the region’s economies and food security.

“We do know that countries that on the equator, where Africa is, are going to be struggling the most,” she says. “And yet we contribute less than 4% to climate change… Wealthier countries have for years been making commitments that have not been kept.

Africa has no place in a world that is 1.5 degrees warmer.”

According to research released by Climate Policy Initiative, climate finance to the continent averages at around 11% of the estimated US$277 billion in annual financing required to address climate change. And while capital is desperately needed for climate adaptation, most climate finance has gone towards mitigation, with 60% of adaptation dollars coming in the form of loans that place added strain on financially strapped countries.

Climate-vulnerable countries have argued that the multinational financing system needs to be “rethought” to respond to the climate crisis more effectively, but change has been slow.

“Has the world let Africa down? I would say absolutely, in the sense that we spent so much time denying climate change,” she says. “We spent so much time failing to see what was in our midst. And even when we began to acknowledge that climate change was real and was impacting people’s lives, there was still inaction.”

With the compounded impact of climate-related events, such as the recurrence of extreme drought in the Horn of Africa, agriculture’s contribution towards poverty alleviation has been limited.

As the leader of the Food Systems Summit, Kalibata worked with governments and world leaders to steer national food systems pathways— assessing and addressing global COVID-19-related food systems challenges against a pre-existing backdrop of climate change-related issues.

According to Kalibata, heightened consciousness spurred by COVID-19 resulted in higher-than-expected participation from the continent, with 49 out of 51 African nations— 37 at a head of state level— attending the Food Systems Summit with a unified position.

“It was important for Africa to engage in the Food Systems Summit… That was exactly what I was hoping for. That we’d engage, that we’d make our voice heard, and that would provide for a follow up mechanism by AGRA and others.”

The platform created at the Food Systems Summit for shared experiences among African countries, coupled with the unprecedented impact of multiple global crises would catalyze a strategic reroute for AGRA, causing it to reassess its “green revolution” approach.

“The rules have changed,” Kalibata explains. “Climate change eroded the traditional knowledge of farmers, and in the absence of huge amounts of money available to invest in irrigation, business declined… When COVID-19 came in, resources had to be diverted. Countries that were just beginning to look at what the agriculture sector could do for them became completely cash strapped.”

The conditions under which Kalibata had successfully led the growth of Rwanda’s agriculture sector had become drastically different and hence, prior mechanisms for boosting the sector would have to be revised.

“I do recognize from a global perspective, the challenges of a green revolution,” she admits.

“We now have the food systems perspective, so we don’t have to make the same mistakes that others have. We are looking to reduce our environmental footprint and make sure that we can be a part of a sustainable solution while feeding our people.”

AGRA has consistently upheld that one of the reasons behind Africa’s low agricultural productivity, as compared to the rest of the world, has been due to its limited use of fertilizers and high-yielding, climate smart seeds. Since its rebrand, the organization has maintained its allegiance to a strategy of providing these inputs to farmers under a sustainable food systems approach.

“In Africa, our challenge is that we don’t produce enough and as a result, we are depleting the environment,” she says. “Those farmers who don’t produce enough end up depending on the environment more. The fertilizer and the seeds that we use, give us the opportunity to have a decent crop with less impact on the environment.”

The experiences and first-hand observations of Kalibata herself have substantiated the efficacy of many of AGRA’s strategies.

“I grew up on a small farm. My dad was a farmer,” she says. “My life was defined by the fact that we did not have access to basic inputs like fertilizer and seeds that the rest of the world takes for granted. I also have experience working in the agriculture sector and seeing the difference in the lives of a farmer whose crop yields half a ton using the same energy as another farmer whose crop yields 5 tons.”

Kalibata believes that a country’s “sweet spot” lies between the polar extremes of “poverty sovereignty” in which farmers do not have access to yield-boosting inputs, causing them to be at the mercy of environmental conditions, and the other extreme of industrial agriculture, which depletes the environment, and contributes to an estimated one-third of total global carbon emissions.

But while AGRA’s new strategy has not come without its detractors, Kalibata has stood firm.

“I’m very unapologetic about how we do business to support farmers. I don’t apologize for that. We can’t let people die because we refuse to use fertilizers; neither can we use fertilizers to the detriment of the environment… My lack of apology comes from the fact that I know we must find the right balance… I love food sovereignty, but I don’t love poverty sovereignty. I do believe that the agriculture sector will get us out of poverty.”

In addition to providing farmers with fertilizers and advanced seeds, AGRA is working towards addressing market failures, with the goal of unlocking the private sector to make it more viable to create jobs and is enhancing the resilience of the sector by improving technical capabilities, infrastructure, and access to irrigation.

As part of its new Strategy, the NGO is experimenting with sustainable and regenerative farming methods and is working to protect and increase the production of African indigenous crops while improving the yields of staple crops.

“We want to improve the productivity of staple crops that farmers have in front of them. We want to give farmers choices. Today, choices are critical because they allow farmers to either achieve success with a specific crop, or switch to a backup crop in case that crop fails.”

Using lessons learned at the Food Systems Summit, AGRA has been able to work with three African countries to design “cutting edge” food systems strategies that incorporate the needs of governments, farmers, businesses, and communities while highlighting where further investment is required— all at the nexus of food security and food production, nutrition security and environmental benefit.

With respect to the future, Kalibata says she is optimistic. She believes that African leaders have woken up to the potential of agriculture and she is inspired by the rate at which innovation is being adopted on the continent. The only limitation that remains is a lack of ‘real’ investment.

“I know what is possible,” Kalibata affirms. “I know that farming is a multi-trillion-dollar industry that Africa has failed to tap into to reduce its poverty and secure food for its people… We are trying to define a new way of doing business for us because we recognize that we must survive whether the world steps forward or not.”

Originally posted on https://www.forbes.com

Investment for Resilience in African Food Systems

Posted on March 24, 2023June 9, 2023 by AGRA Content Hub

Dr Apollos Nwafor, AGRA’s Vice President for Policy and State Capability, outlines how food systems across Africa can better address malnutrition with increased resilience, investment and cross-sector collaboration.

Alarm bells have been chiming for a while about Africa’s dire food situation. Out of the 19 countries where the joint UN ‘Hunger Hotspots’ report projects food insecurity will worsen, 11 are in Africa. This calls for the continent to rethink its approach to tackling hunger and malnutrition.

Multiple natural and man-made shocks to agri-food systems including drought, floods, fall armyworm invasion, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have disproportionately affected the continent, driving up food prices. These shocks have primarily arisen from limited public and private financing to the continent’s agriculture sector. Government allocations remain insufficient and do not meet the 10 per cent threshold committed in 2014 under the Malabo Declaration that aimed to keep agriculture at the top of the development agenda. Even after reiterating this through the Comprehensive African Agricultural Programme (CAADP), progress has been slow, and more still needs to be done.

Steps in the right direction

This limited public investment has also contributed to keeping the private sector away from financing the agriculture sector, which it often considers a risky investment. Yet, significant private sector investment is required to unlock the potential of Africa’s agri-food systems and place it on a sustainable path of growth.

At the recent Food Sovereignty Summit hosted by the Government of Senegal and the African Development Bank, multiple partners agreed to a 40 billion dollar financing plan which would increase investments for food security, with at least 35 per cent of that financing coming from the private sector. But unlocking this money requires critical reforms in the enabling environment. This must cover improving markets, enhancing policy predictability for cross-border food trade, strengthening institutions and empowering farmers with the right technologies to improve the quality of their produce.

Food systems in Africa will need to be strengthened and made more resilient in the face of future shocks. This means addressing challenges exacerbated by climate change’s effects to provide sufficient, diverse and nutritious food choices. This requires urgent action in several key areas.

Building resilience

First, Africa needs to continuously focus on building resilience in its food systems. Policymakers and other players need to assess food systems on their ability to withstand shocks and measures must be put in place for vulnerability. One area of concern is extreme weather variability due to climate change that necessitates measures to safeguard food systems, even during droughts. This means investment in irrigation to minimise dependence on rain-fed agriculture so that food can be produced year-round even when rains fail. Farmers also need improved drought-resistant and water-efficient varieties as well as insurance solutions to cushion them in times of loss.

Another vulnerability that needs to be addressed is supply chain disruptions for food and key inputs such as fertilisers. African countries need to rapidly boost their capacity to produce sufficient food and ensure that they do not rely on inputs from elsewhere in the world and can still produce sufficient food. There is also a need to diversify diets and embrace food that can be grown within the continent. When the continent grows sufficient food to feed itself, it will no longer be vulnerable to supply cuts that increase food prices.

Actions and collaboration for resilient African food systems

All these efforts to build resilience require investment, which governments cannot provide single-handedly; Putting in place proper investment plans for agriculture with clear pathways for returns can attract private sector investment and other forms of financing from multilateral institutions, as well as technical support. This will enhance the private sector’s confidence to invest and provide financing and capabilities to farmers, trade produce and process food profitably.

As African governments work to tackle hunger and encourage investment into food systems within their jurisdictions, they must also work more closely with one another. They need to join hands in tackling hunger and keeping each other accountable. Doubling down on opportunities to strengthen intra-African trade in food and other agricultural produce such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) can help move food from surplus areas to areas of scarcity efficiently.

Even as governments play their role amid the biting effects of climate change, food production on the continent must consider environmental impacts. Farmers need to be supported to adopt best practices in farming, such as regenerative agriculture and watershed management to better prepare for climate variabilities. Though it is a victim, food production should minimise its contribution as a culprit.

Sustained and relevant scientific research is a core part of the solution to our vulnerable food systems. Africa needs homegrown solutions led by African development organisations committed to science-based, farmer-oriented practices. Investments to build on the continent’s robust scientific and leadership base are critical, working with international partners to transform agri-food systems. This has been AGRA’s approach since 2006, mobilising 1.4 billion dollars to support the implementation of eight flagships and leveraging 800 million dollars in private sector investments.

The continent needs more such efforts to rapidly increase food production and eliminate hunger and malnutrition.

Originally posted on: https://farmingfirst.org

Let’s mentor the youth to tap into Africa’s agro-value chain

Posted on March 24, 2023June 9, 2023 by AGRA Content Hub

The 40 per cent of Africa’s population comprising young people in the 18-35 age bracket holds the key to the continent’s food security and economic progress.

Their potential, however, needs to be harnessed through innovative technologies. Unfortunately, the reality is that many youths are jobless, with limited opportunities to transform their lives. One area where we are yet to fully exploit the potential of youth is agriculture.

We should get our youth intricately involved in the food value chain and completely revamp the current agricultural model to make it more youth-inclusive.

We need to debunk retrogressive stereotypes that dissuade the younger generation from embracing agriculture as a dignified career option.

For far too long, young people have perceived agriculture as a retirement pastime. Such stereotypes not only stifle growth and innovation in the agri-food sector but also dim the overall perception of agriculture.

The youth must shun the mindset that agriculture is a boring venture. One of the ways through which the youth can be engaged in transforming the agri-food space is through innovation.

The disruptive impact of technology is evident in virtually every sector and facet of life. While agriculture initially lagged in embracing innovative technologies, it has not been immune to the disruption.

Indeed, some of the most radical innovations have been around food systems. From food security apps to weather and calorie apps, technology has mainstreamed the agri-value chain while neutralising entrenched stereotypes.

Through technology, farmers can now access markets directly, influence prices and learn better crop and animal husbandry practices. On the same platforms, they can showcase their produce, processes, and other activities along the agri-value chain.

Mentoring next generation

We must begin to envision the role of the youth in shaping the future of agriculture by mentoring the next generation of agripreneurs.

The emerging, tech-driven agri-space is gender and age neutral and devoid of biases that fuel the exclusion of youth, women and other disadvantaged groups.

In addition, the quest for a new breed of agripreneurs and innovators has spawned many initiatives that seek to stimulate creativity in pursuit of opportunities in the trillion-dollar Africa agro-value chain.

One such initiative is the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize and the Pitch AgriHack competition, whose aim is to showcase youth’s ground-breaking solutions to Africa’s food security challenges.

The disruption that tech and youth are injecting is the Midas touch the industry needs to transition to the next level. Crucially, youth have a higher risk appetite, which is needed to overcome challenges facing the industry.

Individually and collectively, this youthful effect will affect what we know, drive trends that influence what and how we eat, what we farm, where we farm, and generally influence what the market will produce and consume in future.

Ms Namayi is the GoGettaz Lead – Generation Africa at AGRA; anamayi@agra.org

Originally posted on: https://nation.africa/kenya

Tanzania President launches Africa’s Food System Forum 2023, calls for inclusion of youth and women as critical drivers of Africa’s food systems agenda

Posted on March 18, 2023June 9, 2023 by AGRA Content Hub

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 17^th March 2023 – Her Excellency Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, has today officially launched Africa’s Food System Forum 2023, Africa’s premier platform for advancing the agriculture and food systems agenda on the continent, at State House, Tanzania.

The theme of this year’s Forum – Recover, Regenerate, Act: Africa’s Solutions to Food Systems Transformation – is anchored around building back better Food Systems and Food Sovereignty. It identifies three steps needed to achieve this transformation: Recovery: a call for decisive strategies and actions to help the continent recover and rebuild its food systems following multiple crises and shocks; Regenerate: which calls for the need to regenerate the natural resources, such as soil and water, which are essential for sustainable food production, and Act: which refers to the need to take urgent action to address food systems challenges, such as climate change, food waste, and food insecurity at only seven years before the 2030 SDG deadline.

The forum will spotlight the role of women and youth through a re-energized commitment in the food systems conversation, with a focus on regenerating interest in agriculture as a means of wealth creation for the continent.

Speaking at the launch in Dar es Salaam today, President Suluhu spotlighted the role of youth and women as critical to Africa’s food systems agenda

Speaking at the launch, H.E. President Samia Suluhu said:

“The hosting of the Africa’s Food System Forum 2023 is of importance to our nation where more than 25 percent of our GDP relies on the agricultural sector. For many years, Tanzania’s agriculture was based on subsistence farming. Today, the Government of Tanzania has intentionally made it a goal to prioritize this sector to create livelihoods for our people. We are doing this through various programmes borne out of our hosting and learnings of the 2012 AGRF Summit and our focus on ensuring that the youth are a priority in investment and agricultural reform in our country. It is my hope that the hosting of this forum in our country is one step forward and a good start to achieve the results we expect in our agricultural sector.

In addition, Tanzania as the host of this forum announces to the world that our country aims to become a food granary for Africa and the world in general. I would like to call on the international community, partners of Africa’s Food Systems Forum, the private sector and development partners to participate fully in the upcoming forum on the development of the agricultural sector to strengthen food systems in Africa.”

In his remarks, the Chair of the Africa Food Systems Forum H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn highlighted the importance of the continent moving beyond planning to curb food insecurity, to executing and actualizing commitments, and called for innovation, partnership, leadership and home-grown solutions to respond to emergent agricultural and food systems challenges.

“Our challenges around food system challenges will only get worse unless we work together to drive meaningful change. The difference between the Africa we seek to see and the Africa we shall become by 2060 is all dependent on the decisions we as leaders make and the supporting infrastructure, investments and policies in transforming food systems to produce sufficient, nutritious food in the changing social, political and climatic conditions.

As we rally towards the next Africa’s Food Systems Forum, it is important that we deepen our efforts to scale up our homegrown solutions and partnerships.” He said.

The Africa Food Systems Forum will take place from September 5^th-8^th 2023 in Dar es Salaam Tanzania, with a pre-summit event scheduled for September 4^th 2023. Launch. The summit will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, including leaders, policymakers, scientists, heads of governments and private institutions, farmers, and youth, to agree on practical actions and solutions. These discussions are crucial to driving Africa’s food security forward and creating better livelihoods for all.

ENDS

Catherine Ndungu- Senior Communications Officer, AGRF
+250 791 568 865 cndungu@edaudMedia contact – agrf-media@hudsonsandler.com Eugene Nganga – +254 703 516 173

Makueni County points out possible areas for partnership with AGRA, Bayer

Posted on March 17, 2023August 4, 2023 by AGRA Content Hub

AGRA has always used strategic partnerships to support the creation of alignment between government priorities and private sector interests, for improving impact at smallholder farmer level and for mobilizing private sector investment to scale.

In the first week of March 2023, AGRA team, alongside Natasha Santos, the Vice President at the Germany based Bayer Crop Science visited Makueni County to find out some of the priority areas for partnership with the main aim of supporting agriculture transformation particularly for smallholders.

“Today’s mission is to learn from the County government (of Makueni) about areas of opportunities, what areas of knowledge that can be drawn from the government that can be scaled out, areas that can be rife for partnerships, and areas of challenges that AGRA and Bayer can partner to bring more people on the table,” said John Macharia, AGRA’s Country Manager for Kenya.

“Am here to learn from the County Government of Makueni, then I recommend to the (Bayer) team about the areas where we can do more, and the areas we should prioritize,” said Santos.

To that effect, Joyce Mutua, Makueni County Executive Committee Member (CEC) in charge of Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock, Fisheries & Cooperative Development pointed out some of the priority areas that the county government is already working on, and require partnerships.

“We are at the beginning of the five year cycle of the government, and every government comes in with a new policy direction,” said the CEC. “Focus of the current government is on transformation agenda, with priority on agriculture,” she said.

In Makueni, said Ms Mutua, the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), which is a five year document, is all about agriculture transformation.

To that end, Makueni County is looking at value chain development in areas not limited to poultry, rabbits, green grams, beans, pigeon peas, livestock, and fruits among others.

“It is unfortunate that 57% of households in Makueni County are food insecure and yet more than 80% of the households are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods,” said Ms Mutua.

She noted that so far, there is a deliberate effort to produce food for commercialization. “The county is now looking at sufficient production of food so as to feed the world. This is because if we achieve primary target of feeding the world, then we will definitely afford to feed ourselves, and be 100% food secure,” she said.

So far, the county is already walking towards the (feed the world) direction by exporting mangoes, French beans, and pulses. The county government is also working towards exporting avocados. However, the CEC noted that those value chains being exported have not been well developed, and that is therefore one of the areas that need partnerships.

“Our strategy is that farmers will determine the value chains they want to follow. We encourage them to focus on at least only three value chains at a time and perfect them, and the government will help move those value chains to scale,” said Ms Mutua.

She pointed out that if it is poultry value chain for example, the farmer should target not less than 200 birds at any given time. If it is dairy farming, the farmer will need to have at least four animals, out of which at least two are lactating. If it is green grams, the farmer should target at least five acres under the crop.

“If we get this correctly and aggregate the farmers, then we will have enough for commercialization,” said the CEC. “We are already clear on the strategy for mango value chain, and the strategy for exportation of pixie oranges is coming out very well,” she added.

The ban that had been imposed on the exportation of mangoes has since been lifted. The county had been banned from exporting the fruits because of some pests, and slightly above average chemical reside levels. The lifting came in after the government introduced the use of pheromone traps to achieve low pest zones in Kibwezi and Mbitini areas, where mangoes mature earlier than the interior zones. But the county is slowly expanding the acreage under the low pest zones.

Ms Mutua said that investing in integrated pest management to expand low pest zones is therefore another area that needs partnerships.

So far, mangoes from low pest zones retail at up to Sh40 a piece in the export market, four times higher than what is found in the open market.

Makueni County has installed a plant that is producing puree, though in low volumes. However, this season, the county purchased one million kilograms of mangoes from local farmers.

“We are doing the market study, and this is an area we are seeking for support. We are looking at how we engage with the private sector partnership in the mango value chain. This is because the government has its own limitations based on how it runs,” said the CEC noting that sometimes, money coming from the government arrive late, which is not good for such projects that involve perishables.

“We are also setting up a drying plant so that we can absorb as many mangoes as possible. There is a huge market for the dried mangoes, and we are exploring many more value addition techniques including the use of hot pepper on the dried mango crisps,” she told the AGRA and Bayer team, pointing out that one youth group is already exporting dried mangoes to South Africa and USA.

Dairy farming is another area that the county government is working on, though the facilities in place are not running at the moment. “We need support to boost fodder production. We also need involvement of the private sector to develop the required facilities, because we can still buy milk from elsewhere to be processed in our facilities,” said Ms Mutua.

Other areas of interest include scaling up of production and aggregation to bypass brokers who always take advantage to offer very poor prices.

The county government is also planning to put up a testing facility because at the moment it is relying on the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and other facilities in Nairobi for testing, which takes a long turnaround time.

The county is in the process of putting up phase one of agriculture and food laboratory that will be able to test the soils, and the food laboratory that will support the angle of processing.

“We are also planning to put up an industrial park to be supported by aggregation centers. That is where we will do incubations like starter businesses, and host businesses that just need to run,” said Ms Mutua.

“At the moment, we are not very industrialized as a county due to lack of infrastructure, such as electricity, water supply, sewage system among other amenities,” she noted.

Applications are now open for AGRA’s 2023 VALUE4HER Women Agripreneurs of the Year Awards -WAYA

Posted on March 9, 2023 by AGRA Content Hub

NAIROBI, March 9, 2023 –AGRA has launched a call for applications for the 2023 Women Agripreneurs of the Year Awards (WAYA) that recognise African female agripreneurs demonstrating remarkable Innovation and business excellence in agricultural value chains.

The winning agripreneurs, who will be unveiled during the 2023 AGRF Summit, will receive a total of $85,000 in grant funding. To be eligible for WAYA, businesses must be operating in an agriculture or agribusiness value chain, be a legal entity registered in a country that is a member state of the African Union, and at least 51% owned and managed by one or more women who are citizens of one of the 55 African countries. Entries are submitted online on this link until May 31, 2023.

Applications are being received in three categories: Young female Agripreneur (for those under the age of 35 years and have demonstrated innovation and leadership in business); Outstanding Value Adding Enterprise (for female-owned agribusinesses that are increasing the economic value and/or consumer appeal to agricultural products); and Female Ag-Tech Innovator (those championing technological advancement in agribusiness); and an Overall Grand Prize winner will be determined as the candidate that demonstrates the best potential for scale.

Speaking at the launch event, AGRA’s Vice President for Strategic Partnerships & Chief of Party, Vanessa Adams said: “Women’s participation and recognition in this agriculture sector has been historically overlooked. That’s why we believe it’s essential to shine a spotlight on women who are making a significant contribution to the agricultural industry through their innovation, leadership, and entrepreneurship. By recognising the undeniable contribution of women to African food systems, we hope to inspire and encourage more women to pursue careers in the agricultural sector”.

Last year, Oluyemisi Iranloye, the Managing Director of Psaltry International from Nigeria, scooped the Overall Grand Prize for her cassava processing initiative. Fatou Manneh, the Founder of Jelmah Herbella, from The Gambia, won in the Young Female Agripreneur category; Uwintwari Liliane, the CEO of Mahwi Tech from Rwanda, won the Female Ag Tech Innovator; and Célia Chabi, the CEO of KIEL BIEN-ÊTRE from Benin won in the Outstanding Value Adding Enterprise category.

About AGRA

Founded in 2006, AGRA, is an African-led African-based organization that seeks to catalyse Agriculture Transformation in Africa. AGRA is focused on putting smallholder farmers at the centre of the continent’s growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives. As the sector that employs the majority of Africa’s people, nearly all of them small-scale farmers, AGRA recognizes that developing smallholder agriculture into a productive, efficient, and sustainable system is essential to ensuring food security, lifting millions out of poverty, and driving equitable growth across the continent.

About WAYA

The VALUE4HER Women Agripreneurs of the Year Awards (WAYA) is an AGRA led recognition initiative launched in 2021 under AGRA’s flagship VALUE4HER initiative that seeks to strengthen women agripreneurship in Africa. The Women Agripreneurs of the Year Awards (WAYA) recognizes African female agripreneurs who have excelled in the agricultural value chains and have demonstrated remarkable innovation by contributing positively towards food security, climate resilience, women and youth empowerment. The awards aim to create visibility for successful women and promote them as positive role models, trigger innovation, and spur ambition among women agripreneurs.

For media interviews and enquiries:
Contact Jean Kiarie
Head of Communications
AGRA
+254 722 719 070
jkiarie@agra.org

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Mejury Shiri, VALUE4HER Coordinator and WAYA Lead: mshiri@agra.org.

The ‘new normal’ in food systems is anchored on gender equality

Posted on March 6, 2023 by AGRA Content Hub

The world quickly embraced a ‘new normal’ in response to the Covid-19 pandemic that swept the globe in 2020, dramatically upending life as we knew it. That should inspire a shift to a new way of growing food by decisively tackling gender inequality that pervades the agricultural system globally.

For far too long, women have been consigned to playing second fiddle in the global food system. Inspired by the immortal dream of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., who envisioned a ‘Promised Land’ where equality for all reigned, I stand with the millions of women marginalised by gender inequality even as they cling to unfulfilled international commitments on mainstreaming gender parity as a way of achieving food security.

We must be bold as to disrupt the status quo that eternally condemns women to marginalisation, to unshackle them from the vicious cycle of poverty and vulnerability. The new normal of agriculture must deliver on gender equality, equity and empowerment.

Decent meal

In striving to bring the millions of women in Africa toiling on land they do not own, growing crops they cannot sell, working long hours of unpaid labour and being considered uncreditworthy by lenders to the decision-making table, we must first recognise their potential to transform agriculture.

Ahead of the 2021 UN Food Summit, I was part of a worldwide listening tour. Many women narrated the inequality they experience, the inability to cook a decent meal for their children, the number of times they had to hold back their needs and pass the plate on to a member of the family (You see, for us women, that is honour). How can this be ingrained in the food-producing systems?

They pleaded to be treated and valued as equal and productive members of communities; and for an end to the historical injustices they have faced. They also asked governments to fix laws and policies that denied them equal treatment and for financial solutions to enable them to access much-needed credit. They demanded fair and equitable wages—which can only be realised through a cultural shift driven by behaviour change.

Pain areas

We have had way many conversations around these pain areas and the changes required to attain the dream of equality. When shall we be bold enough to act? Sixty per cent of the agricultural workforce are women.

I see a world where women are not just labourers but producers on farms they own alongside their husbands. I see leaders, decision-makers and innovators. I also see a world where, because of empowerment, women have better access to factors of production.

As such, they can produce twice as much or more than they do, and where the enhanced output translates into affordable and accessible food, nutritious diets and improvement in standards of living for all.

For financial institutions, I see more customers, bigger savings and growing loan books. Let financial institutions change their attitude and create products for women, see their potential and teach them financial literacy to empower and grow them. For every man there is a woman; why is a significant part of the other half not visible to you, in this world of innovation, creativity you can’t find a product to unlock this clientele?

For governments, I see a wealthier and broader tax base. Time is night for states to be deliberate about affirmative action, passing laws and policies that support women’s empowerment in food systems. There is a lot of evidence of where countries that have been so bold have reaped huge benefits from it.

For the media, it is time to highlight the inequality and tell us inspiring stories of how and where equality is working, to inform and drive the much-needed behaviour change.

Policymakers

Now is the time for a cultural reorganisation to discard negative practices. Civil society has a crucial role in educating the populace. For intellectuals and policymakers, it is the moment to shepherd conversations and actions toward the end goal of an equitable and progressive society that is empowered and productive and can feed itself.

The benefits of a more resilient food system driven by gender equality are many. However, they will remain a pipe dream if we do not get off the rhetoric and work towards gender equity and address the systemic hurdles hindering our path to the Promised Land.

It is time to act by actualising a new normal, time to champion new thinking and rally individual and collective responsibility to correct the gender inequality in our food systems. We must stay hungry for change until the change we desire becomes a reality.

Dr Kalibata is the president of AGRA. @Agnes_Kalibata

Originally posted on https://nation.africa/

18 African food systems leaders complete inaugural Advanced Leadership Programme of AGRA’s Centre for African Leaders in Agriculture (CALA)

Posted on January 25, 2023 by AGRA Content Hub

Delegates graduate from prestigious leadership programme targeting change makers from government, civil society and private sector

[Lilongwe, Tuesday, 24 January 2023]: Eighteen food systems leaders from Malawi and Tanzania have graduated from the AGRA-led Centre for African Leaders in Agriculture’s (CALA) Advanced Leadership Programme in Lilongwe, Malawi. They were awarded certificates in the Advanced Leadership Programme for Africa’s Food Security and Sustainability after completing a 16-month training, designed to equip them with the practical leadership skills for effective implementation of national agriculture programmes prioritised in their respective countries.

This was the third and final of three regional graduation ceremonies scheduled for CALA’s inaugural cohort of 80 delegates who were competitively selected from eight countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Ghana and Nigeria – for the 16-month programme last year. The first graduation ceremony for 17 delegates from Ghana and Nigeria was held on November 30, 2022, in Accra, Ghana, in a function presided over by Dr Solomon Gyan Ansah, Director of Crops Services in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Dr. Ansah noted the CALA programme’s responsiveness to climate change mitigation and adaptation. “I am delighted by the delegates’ deployment of environmentally friendly practices, tools and techniques to solve for food systems challenges.”

The second graduation ceremony for 32 delegates from Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Uganda was held on December 7^th, 2022, in Nairobi, Kenya. This East African graduation was presided over by Mr Philip Kello Harsama, Principal Secretary in the State Department for Crop Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. Mr Harsama commended AGRA for supporting the Ministry to achieve its objectives, and for heeding to its promise of supporting sector leadership as they work to advance food systems transformation.

Mr Harsama highlighted CALA’s collaborative spirit which brings together government, private sector and civil society to jointly solve food security challenges.

“One of the biggest challenges we face today is moving from decision making to action. Transformation beckons, with many of the technologies, financing mechanisms, practices and policies necessary for change in place. Yet all these require a spark. That spark, which CALA provides, is collaborative leadership. That is the ability to work together in all our diversity as leaders, to solve problems for the good of many,” he said.

The last of the three scheduled graduation ceremonies was held in Lilongwe, Malawi on 24^th January 2022 for 18 delegates. This Southern African graduation was presided over by Dr.Rodwell Mzonde, Director of Planning Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Malawi. Dr. Rodwell Mzonde encouraged the graduates to mentor others and note that their ability to apply what they have learnt is what is going to make them transformation agents. During the ceremony, the delegates presented results of their Action Learning Projects, a unique aspect of CALA’s leadership training. In Tanzania this included reducing poultry mortality rates by promoting cluster production systems and enhancing small-holders sesame farmers’ access to formal market channels in the Southern regions of Tanzania. Malawi delegates also worked on facilitating the creation of structured markets in the honey value chain and improving the Legume Value Chain through an Assessment of the Legumes Platform operations in Malawi.

Dr Agnes Kalibata, AGRA’s President, said CALA is breeding leaders to take the agriculture sector forward and get our people out of poverty. This will be achieved by building a critical mass of African leaders who are committed to cross-sector collaboration and innovation in food systems.

“One can’t be a leader in the agriculture sector unless they understand how the sector works. There is need for continuous sharing of ideas and support within the sector. It is time to think of our roles as leaders and how we can collaborate for the sake of our people. CALA has empowered you as leaders to influence change and move the agriculture sector forward.”

The graduates join a growing continental network of leaders who have distinguished themselves advancing national food security goals. The first class of 80 included executive-level leaders with more than 15 years of experience, and rising stars – typically those with 10+ years of experience in delivery of key national agriculture programmes.

The first cohort was selected from over 1,000 applicants, with 45% of them drawn from government agencies across the eight countries. Twenty-six percent of them come from the private sector and 29% from civil society. The second cohort of 80 delegates joined the programme in August 2022.

For more on CALA’s Advanced Leadership Programme, see: https://cala.agra.org/programme/cala-advanced-leadership-programme/

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For media interviews and enquiries:

Jean Kiarie, Head of Communications, AGRA

Phone: +254722719070

About CALA

CALA was launched in August 2021, as an AGRA-led initiative, to provide practical training for African leaders in the agriculture sector. The initiative seeks to catalyse collective action on food systems as an avenue for transformation of national and regional agriculture priorities. The Centre’s programmes are delivered in collaboration with implementing partners, including the African Management Institute (AMI), CALA’s lead implementing partner, and USAID’s Policy LINK. Policy LINK has led the design and rollout of the leadership programme’s coaching component. CALA is also supported with funding from the German Development Cooperation, through KfW Development Bank.

About AGRA

About the African Management Institute (AMI)

AMI enables ambitious businesses and leaders across Africa to thrive, through practical tools and training. We equip leaders with tools to build their businesses, help companies train their teams and run work readiness programmes for young people starting their careers. AMI’s programmes combine online and mobile tools with in-person workshops and on-the-job practice and support. AMI has trained over 42,000 people in over 39 countries and has offices in Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, and South Africa, with additional presence in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, and Cote’ d’Ivoire.

About Policy LINK

Policy LINK is a global Feed the Future program that strengthens the leadership capacity of public, private, and civil society actors and fosters collective action among them for better policy systems. Feed the Future is America’s global hunger and food security initiative, led by USAID.

Four ways to make 2023 count in the pursuit of resilient and sustainable food systems

Posted on January 13, 2023 by AGRA Content Hub

The inter-related crises of conflict, climate change inflation and more are threatening our food systems at an inflection point for humanity.
To make sure we hit the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we must evaluate and improve our global food systems.
In 2023, we’ll have a few stocktake moments that we must take advantage of to set us up for success moving forward.

Food security and our food systems are under threat. COVID-19, conflict, disruptions to global trade, climate change and the energy and inflation crises are threatening the supply of food for people all over the world.

These inter-related and inter-dependent challenges are a reminder of the urgent need to transition to inclusive, sustainable, nutritious and resilient food systems. Doing so would deliver for people, prosperity and the planet.

Sustainable food systems are essential for building resilience against future shocks, improving global health and nutrition, achieving net-zero carbon emissions, protecting nature and biodiversity, empowering communities and building inclusive and resilient economies.

Food systems under threat

The 2021 UN Food Systems Summit convened 163 countries and thousands of other actors around the world — including policymakers, private sector, civil society, food producers, indigenous communities, youth and scientists — to accelerate action for food systems transformation.

The UN Secretary-General’s summary and statement of action from the Summit recognised current food systems’ major impediments to climate, environment and health, even as they have immense potential to “feed the growing global population while protecting our planet.”

There is growing consensus and recognition of the central importance of food systems in delivering the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), for tackling climate change, improving livelihoods and overcoming the silent pandemic of global malnutrition.

From (IPCC) reports to COP27, 2022 has been a year of progress in recognising the importance of food systems — both in terms of their potential to be global-scale forces for positive change, but also the danger mismanagement of them poses to communities everywhere, particularly the vulnerable.

2023 presents several stocktake moments that we must seize to accelerate food systems transformation: the 1^st Food Systems Stocktake, the 1st Paris Agreement Global Stocktake on climate action during COP28 and the 2nd Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit, to take stock of progress across the 17 SDGs.

We already know we are not progressing fast enough. However, we are resolved for the transformation, and can use our collective experience, knowledge and convening powers to accelerate action, implementation and support for the 2030 Agenda and deliver on the Paris climate agenda.

Four priorities for 2023’s stocktaking moments

Here are four priorities for these stocktaking exercises, which are just as important for the Climate, SDGs and Food Systems communities.

1. Understand the best practices, innovations and ideas.

During the UN Food Systems Summit process, more than 2,200 ideas were surfaced by constituencies all around the world, broadly consolidated into five action areas and 59 solution clusters. This knowledge was captured in a Summit compendium.

Many of the innovations and solutions are already being implemented and a body of knowledge is being built from regenerative agriculture to sustainable proteins, from advancing Indigenous food systems to city-based solutions and from producing food at the lowest cost to the true value of food. Irrespective of the idea, we must strive for and give priority to solutions that have proven potential for positive change at scale, delivering benefits across communities and landscapes and anchored in local context.

2. Recognise and support courageous systems leadership.

Change is hard and often takes a long time. For meaningful change, we need courageous systems leadership from individuals and communities, which must be recognised, supported and leveraged for wider momentum. This includes the need for trust between all stakeholders, both public and private, corporate and civil society.

3. Rally behind national pathways for food systems transformation.

163 countries stepped forward during the UN Food Systems Summit with the intention of improving their national systems. Of these, 117 put forward unique national pathways for food systems transformation. Along with the African Union/NEPAD, AGRA is working with countries and partners to transform national pathways into detailed food systems strategies, investment plans and priority programmes for African countries.

Ghana, Malawi and Rwanda have finished designing elaborate food system transformation strategies that will guide their transformation agenda and direct investments to their priority areas. Through a combined effort from all players, more than 25 countries globally should have clear transformation roadmaps by July 2023. But even then, this will not deliver change until the global financing architecture moves from funding agriculture to funding food systems, from delivering calories to nutrition and from working towards poverty lines to inclusion and more resilience in communities.

This can be delivered by working closely with these countries to mobilise supportive partnerships, investments and other capabilities through deliberate public-private-philanthropic-civil society collaboration.

4. Improve collaboration and coordination to deliver on bold visions.

Too many of our communities and institutions work in siloes and focus on individual interests. Within countries, cross-ministry collaboration and coordination remains a major challenge, and greater clarity is needed on the stewardship of government approaches in food systems action. Good coordination can maximise value from current resources, while working out how to bring in important new resources.

In this context, we must strengthen national, regional and global coordination mechanisms and multi-stakeholder platforms that can deliver better food systems outcomes across the SDGs.

Cooperating to build resilient food systems

The Food Action Alliance, founded in 2019 by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Rabobank and the World Economic Forum, stands out as a premier platform for coordinating such multistakeholder action. It mobilises country-led food systems transformation and flagship initiatives with the best of public-private producer collaboration. We need to build on existing efforts and refrain from further fragmentation by turning every idea into a new initiative.

The myriads of initiatives that have emerged out of the UN Food Systems Summit, while a great recognition of the urgency of the situation, have left countries and partners wondering how best to move forward. Part of these stocktakes should be to continue to enhance coordination and alignment to country efforts.

As we work together, guided by these important stocktakes, 2023 can be a pivotal point in our collective effort to deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and all our goals for people, planet and prosperity. But we must do it together.

Originally posted on https://www.weforum.org

COMESA Ministers Undertake to Promote the Regional Food Balance Sheet Initiative

Posted on December 13, 2022 by AGRA Content Hub

Protase Echessah, Senior Program Office, Regional Food Trade and Resilience Unit, AGRA

Gregory Chansa, Consultant, TetraTech

Mumbi Gichuri, Coordinator, Food Trade Coalition for Africa, Regional Food Trade and Resilience Unit, AGRA

During the 8th Joint Meeting of the Ministers responsible for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment from COMESA Member States, the Ministers pledged to fully support the implementation of the COMESA Digital Regional Food Balance Sheet (RFBS) Initiative. Under the theme of this year’s meeting: ”Building Resilience Through Strategic Digital Economic Integration”, the Ministers reviewed regional strategic frameworks and programmes to expand agricultural production and productivity, strengthen regional agri-food data and information systems, enhance resilience, increase access to markets, and trade in safe and high-quality agricultural commodities and products, enhance regional food security, adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change and build resilience.

The Regional Food Balance Sheet initiative (www.rfbsa.com) is a collaborative and multi-stakeholder engagement that includes participation from a range of analytical and technology partners to provide data and forecasts on crop production, cross-border trade, input supply, and data aggregation. The RFBS, launched by AGRA and COMESA at the 2022 AGRF Summit, is leveraging digital and satellite technology to enable more up-to-date monitoring and forecasting of food crop production, pest and disease attack, and other climatic shifts that could potentially impact food availability. It is a web-based tool that leverages machine-learning and advanced analytics to provide timely supply, demand, and price information about staple crops in Sub-Saharan Africa to inform evidence-based decision making by the public and private sector and other stakeholders in the ecosystem.

The recent shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia – Ukraine Crisis have further amplified the critical need for timely and reliable information on food availability, given the potential of these shocks to dramatically increase Africa’s food insecurity for millions of people throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Without reliable information about the spatial and temporal dimensions of commodity availability and demand, including production estimates, stocks, trade flows, and market information, it is difficult to understand the implications of these shocks and the policy responses to them. Addressing challenges around information and data are critical to not only increasing intra-African food trade, but to increasing food security on the continent.

The RFBS, anchored within the COMESA framework, was developed in collaboration with (AGRA), with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the Rockefeller Foundation (RF).

In a virtual meeting held on Thursday, 24 November 2022, the Ministers pledged to promote and implement initiatives that contribute to reducing post-harvest losses, improve agriculture commodity aggregation and storage, and enhance competitive access to markets and trade in the region and internationally.

“We commit ourselves to enhancing access to production inputs, services and improved technologies including leveraging digital technologies to drive agriculture and livestock production and productivity”.

“We further request the COMESA Secretariat and its specialized institutions and agencies to work in close collaboration with Member States, cooperating partners, private sector, and other stakeholders to drive the implementation of the decisions taken at this virtual meeting” the Ministers stated in a joint declaration at the end of the meeting.

During the Meeting, COMESA Secretary General (SG), Chileshe Kapwepwe and AGRA Vice-President – Policy and State Capability, Dr. Apollos Nwafor, pitched for the support of the RFBS Initiative by COMESA Member States, arguing that the success and long-term sustainability of initiatives such as this depend on commitments from all players, especially governments who have the obligation to provide information/data as a public good. COMESA will anchor the RFBS in the long-term, but it is the Member States who will determine if the initiative survives or not. The Member States must commit to supporting this initiative through the establishment of critical structures at the national and regional levels, and by way of funding. They further argued that the success of the RFBS Initiative at national level will demand overall support to the initiative by government and other national level stakeholders, and inclusion in the national regional planning agenda.

The SG added that COMESA will continue to deploy skills and efforts in designing policies and instruments to speed up agricultural growth, facilitate trade and investment among its Member States and with the rest of the world. The meeting was also addressed by representatives of other cooperating partners of COMESA including Mr. Joseph Silavwe (European Union Delegation to Zambia and COMESA), and Mr. Patrice Talla (Food and Agriculture Organization).

The meeting affirmed the importance of timely, accurate and reliable data for informed policy decisions, investments in agri-food systems, and natural resources development in a rapidly changing agri-food system and environment.

This meeting was preceded by the 8th Joint Technical Meeting on Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources on 22 -23 November 2022.

The RFBS tool is critical and central to enhancing policy and market predictability – for functional food markets and food systems. This platform will inform data-driven decisions around production support, trade policy, and stock management by governments, business decision-making and investment by the private sector, and food aid by donors or emergency response organizations. Basic data on food production, consumption, trade, stocks and balances are essential to promote not just regional food security, but also long-term inclusive agricultural transformation, regional agricultural trade, and resilient food systems.