AGRA

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

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. 

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/

# End # 

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

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 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.

• 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

Dar es Salaam Tanzania / Washington DC, USA, 12 December 2022 – Tanzania will host the AGRF 2023 Summit, the announcement was made by Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan, the president of the United Republic of Tanzania and H.E Hailemariam Dessalegn, the Chair of the AGRF Partners Group on the sidelines of the U.S. Africa Leaders’ Summit currently taking place in Washington, DC. 

The AGRF, Africa’s Food Systems Forum, is the premier platform for advancing the agriculture and food systems agenda on the continent; from food security to agri-food investments. The annual Summit convenes leaders, policymakers, scientists, heads of governments and private institutions, farmers, and the youth in the agriculture and food systems landscape to discuss and agree on practical actions and solutions that drive Africa’s food security and better livelihoods for all. 

The 2023 Summit aspires to position Africa as the place for innovation, investments, and to advance a stronger more diverse, and resilient food system. The Summit will look to energize and spotlight continental progress beyond the call for aid. The Summit will showcase Africa’s solutions to Africa’s food systems transformation while spotlighting leadership, accountability, inclusion and investment opportunities in Africa in general and in Tanzania in particular. 

Tanzania will be the first country to host the AGRF Summit since the forum was rebranded to Africa’s Food Systems Forum in 2022 as a reflection of the partnerships’ ambition to move forward the transformation of Africa’s food system and sustain engagement year-round.

In her remarks, Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan welcomed agriculture and food systems experts, investors and stakeholders from across Africa and beyond to Tanzania for the Summit and emphasized the importance for Africa to lead on its food security for national and continental development. She highlighted that Africa’s food security can collectively be attained if all parties join hands to advance localized solutions that drive prosperity for all urging the youth to participate in agriculture to enable faster growth of the continent’s growth.

“I am pleased to announce, that Tanzania has been selected to host the AGRF 2023 Summit. This important Forum will bring together global and local voices, will highlight investment opportunities and will be looking to do business. We must chart ways to  protect our people from the current drought and climate change impacts and we must make it possible for investments to move into this important sector. 

“I have no doubt, that this Summit will provide actionable solutions for the continent and our people,” President Samia said.

H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn congratulated and recognized Tanzania’s leadership in advancing food security and shared his appreciation to President Samia for hosting the AGRF 2023 Summit. 

“The AGRF, Africa’s Food Systems Forum 2023, comes at an integral time when the continent, battered by the effects of climate change, is coming together to find solutions that safeguard lives and livelihoods. It is commendable that Tanzania is developing a national blueprint to drive its economy forward and food and agriculture will play a huge role in ensuring the country’s prosperity. We urge all stakeholders ahead of the Summit to kickstart these vital discussions and conversations while surfacing innovative ideas that can be shared and deployed across the continent.” 

The AGRF 2023 builds on the AGRF 2022 hosted by the Government of Rwanda in Kigali. It was attended by more than 2700 delegates In-Person and over 4000 online. In 2023, the AGRF secretariat and partners will build on the conversations, agreements, and critical decisions from the AGRF 2022 Summit through in-country meetings and roadshows with leaders, farmers, and the youth.  The Summit is expected to convene critical voices in Tanzania with the aim of strengthening Africa’s food systems transformation through consensus.

ENDS

Catherine Ndungu- Senior Communications Officer, AGRF
+250791568865 cndungu@agra.org

Media contact – agrf-media@hudsonsandler.com
Evelyne Wangui – +254 726 087 451

About AGRF 

The AGRF, recently rebranded to Africa’s Food Systems Forum, is the world’s premier forum for African agriculture, bringing together stakeholders in the agricultural landscape to take practical actions and share lessons that will move African agriculture forward. Under AGRF’s current strategy, the Forum is particularly focused on driving progress of the Malabo Declaration by 2025 as the priority set of commitments African Heads of State and Government have made to strengthen agricultural development at the center of the continent’s overall development and progress. The AGRF is organised by the AGRF Partners Group, a coalition of institutions that care about Africa’s agriculture transformation.   
https://agrf.org

About the AGRF Partner’s Group 

The AGRF Partners Group is made up of 26 leading actors in African agriculture all focused on putting farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economies. Members include: African Development Bank (AfDB), African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP), African Union Commission (AUC), Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Bayer AG, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), CGIAR System Organization, Corteva Agriscience, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Government of Rwanda, Grow Africa (AUDA-NEPAD), Heifer International, IKEA Foundation, International Development Research Center (IDRC), International Fund  for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Mastercard Foundation, OCP Group, Rockefeller Foundation, Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU), Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), Syngenta Foundation, The Tony Blair Institute, UPL Limited, US Agency for International Development (USAID), Yara International ASA.

AGRA participated in the Beans is How global launch, an ambitious campaign mobilised by the SDG2 Advocacy Hub to double the global consumption of beans (as well as peas, pulses and legumes) by 2028. Eating beans is an affordable, accessible solution to the world’s growing health and climate challenges. The seed for the initiative was planted at the AGRF – Africa’s Food Systems Summit in Rwanda, during a Presidential dinner hosted by President Kagame.

AGRA also was in panel discussions to explore how the climate-resilient African crops (e.g. Sorghum, Millets, Teff, Fonio, Cassava) could be promoted and integrated in the wider food systems, given their high nutrient density and resilience to climate risks and infertile soils.  There has been a call for research investment, value addition and improved market linkages.

There are a range of climate-friendly technologies available for agricultural value chains that could improve the resilience of food systems, and reduce climate risks, many of which are suited to SMEs and small farmers.  However, they remain in their early stages because most value chain actors have not yet priced the effects of climate change. The AGRA delegation participated in several events that unpacked innovative components for a sustainable transformation agenda. Participants identified private sector players as key champions for enabling the participation of smallholder farmers participate effectively in climate programs to address their challenges and seize opportunities. 

The private sector’s role in developing technologies and practices for carbon removal and the reduction of carbon loss is at its infancy. Small scale farmers would benefit from incentives to improve and restore their farms and landscapes if they benefit from carbon credits. However, from the context of African farmers, the intervention areas and technologies that would attract carbon markets need to be piloted and fine-tuned to make it fit to the context and significantly easier for agri-SMEs to afford the climate products and services they need to adapt. 

AGRA convened key partners and stakeholders at COP27 in a dinner session to explore the tangible ways of mobilizing investments and interventions that target smallholder communities.

COP27 was a critical event to recognize and ensure that the mechanisms are put in place to not only raise $100bn per year of climate actions but also unleash the opportunity for large scale financing of climate resilience as part of the global recovery package. 

Presently, only 1.5% of global climate finance is currently channelled to small-scale agriculture of which 95% is sourced from public sources, and of the annual $30 billion spent on adaptation in Africa in 2019/20, just 3% came from the private sector. The intent to reform the mechanisms for climate funding and the establishment of a fund for loss and damage to support the most vulnerable communities in developing countries is, therefore, a step in the right direction. 

Participants at the session remarked that several commitments by AGRA partners and governments have increased funding towards adaptive food systems.  However, it was noted that the pipeline of scalable programs and investments driving transformation at the farm level is not sufficient and that public and private actors fall short in prioritizing African Food systems as a core driver of resilience. Speakers called for continued multi-stakeholder collaboration, more effort for innovative design and the need for prioritization of climate action through food systems.

The AGRA delegation joined the Global Centre for Adaptation (GCA) in a session titled, “Scaling Climate-Resilient Agriculture and Livestock Systems in Africa”, to reflect on the recently published State and Trends in Adaptation Report 2022. The discussion highlighted the need for more granular data to support evidence-based decision-making at the farm, regional and national levels. The expert panel concluded that data collection has to be driven by country-level leadership. 

AGRA has contributed to the data mapping of community vulnerabilities to different types of exposures (drought, flood, pests and diseases) and the response capacity of the respective communities to absorb these shocks and adopt the best practices for bringing sustainability and resilience to farming systems.

Microsoft, through its Africa Transformation Office (ATO),  partnered with AGRA to promote data-driven agriculture in improving food security and promoting climate-smart practices in smallholder agriculture. In a session focused on Big Data and smallholder farmer interventions, experts discussed the parameters for successful digitization and scaling of climate smart initiatives. Key issues highlighted were the importance of prioritizing the needs of the beneficiaries in the design and implementation (i.e. smallholder farmer communities), and addressing the current data fragmentation in Africa’s food systems.

A majority of women in Africa derive their livelihood from agriculture. Their already difficult situation is exacerbated by the consequences of climate change, including erratic rainfall, droughts, floods, cyclones, and pest attacks. 

It is against this backdrop that AGRA hosted a CoP27 side event seeking to highlight the role of women in climate change adaptation under the theme: ‘Delivering for people and planet- The role of African Women in Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation and Response’. The session brought together leaders, researchers, scientists, and entrepreneurs from around Africa to evaluate the policies, opportunities and investments that deter women from fully harnessing the benefits of climate change adaptation. 

Sabdiyo Dido, the Head of Gender, and Inclusiveness at AGRA, appealed for the development of a policy and social-cultural environment that promotes women’s engagement in the development of climate change adaptation and mitigation plans and investments.

“The challenge is with the policies and practices that are out there… and it’s high time that we try to elevate the voices of women to participate effectively in determining how policies can reach them, how practices can become responsive to them, and how investments can be channeled to boost their adaptation,” she said. 

In agreement, AGRA President, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, noted that the biggest opportunity to drive climate change adaptation and mitigation is through investment in women, particularly those in agriculture and food systems. 

“If we focused on removing the impact of climate change coming from agriculture it would contribute 37% to net zero, but to do that we have to invest significantly to make the sector work for the people that are most impacted, especially on the African continent,” she said. 

Amb. Josefa Sacko, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development Rural, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, at the African Union Commission (AUC), in her keynote speech shared a four-point strategy for driving women’s inclusion and leadership in climate change response post-CoP27, as summarized below:

1. Women are powerful agents of change, they have indigenous and local knowledge related to water harvesting and storage, land restauration; food production and rationing and natural resources management, which can be harnessed for lasting and scalable change.
2. We must amplify the voice of African women in face of climate change to create awareness for policy, strategy, and practices, whilst entrenching their leadership in climate change mitigation, adaptation and responses … we must ensure that we have enough women specifically those working in agri-food systems as negotiators at CoP28 next year and make sure that their voices/propositions are taken into account.
3. We must mainstream gender in climate-smart agriculture (CSA) with the aims to reduce gender inequalities and ensure that men and women can equally benefit from any intervention in the agri-foods systems to reduce risk link to climate change.
4. There is a need for Sex and Age disaggregated data and evidence on the impact of climate change on women and youth- we are making a call for AGRA to assist us (AUC) in generating this Sex and Age disaggregated data. 

Picking up from Amb. Sacko’s point on the need for evidence and data in deriving solutions for women’s participation, Dr. Susan Chomba, the Director of Vital Landscapes at the World Resources Institute, reiterated the need to give women scientists a voice in global platforms like the climate change conventions.  

“I am very conscious of the underrepresentation of women, particularly women scientists in these kinds of international forums. It is a call to all of us to do all that is within our means to increase the number of scientists, because we need not just the voice of women but also their expertise in defining food systems transformation,” she said. 

Other contributors to the discussion were Tony Simons, a Senior Fellow at Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry, and Prof. Antony Nnyong, Director at Global Center on Adaptation, as well as entrepreneurs Fatou Manneh (Jelmah Herbella – Gambia), Judith Marera (Lanforce Energy – Zimbabwe), and Lily Singelengele (Green Agriculture Youth Organization – Zambia).