AGRA

AGRA leads conversations and important partnerships at the AGRF and the UN Food Systems Summit

With just nine harvests left to achieve critical commitments including the eradication of hunger and poverty from Africa, communities around the world spent over one year mobilizing voices and stakeholders towards commitments and coalitions to transform local and global food systems. The outcome of these efforts was highlighted in September 2021, a month when two critical events – the AGRF 2021 Summit and the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) were held to review the milestones towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As a convenor and thought-leader on agricultural systems, AGRA contributed to, and drove the momentum in the two events by designing platforms and sessions that cast the spotlight on Africa’s priorities and key actions to achieve resilient and sustainable food systems.

At the AGRF Summit, held in Nairobi, Kenya between September 6 and 10, AGRA  curated high-profile AGRF thematic platforms including a Presidential Summit, a Youth Townhall, a Farmers Forum and a workshop on Collaborative Food Systems Leadership hosted by an AGRA Initiative, the Centre for African Leaders in Agriculture (CALA). AGRA organized and presented four awards: the Africa Food Prize, the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize, the VALUE4Her Women Agripreneurs of the At the AGRF Summit, held in Nairobi, Kenya between September 6 and 10, AGRA  curated  a Presidential Summit, a Youth Townhall, a Farmers Forum and a workshop on Collaborative Food Systems Leadership hosted by an AGRA Initiative, the Centre for African Leaders in Agriculture (CALA). AGRA organized and presented four awards: the Africa Food Prize, the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize, the VALUE4Her Women Agripreneurs of the Year Awards (WAYA) and the Pitch Agrihack Competition. The awards were held to recognize the role of youth and women entrepreneurs and innovators in the transformation of Africa’s agri-food systems. AGRA launched the 2021 Africa Agriculture Status Report (AASR) and the Center of Excellence for Seed Systems in Africa (CESSA), which will  champion the development of high quality and improved seed varieties in the continent. 

At the same time, and in the run-up to the UN FSS, AGRA invited the continent’s leaders, food systems entrepreneurs and innovators to side-events, where the continent’s priorities for the transformation of the continent’s agri-food systems were outlined. The side-events included a high-level panel focusing on food systems priorities emerging from the AGRF, a VALUE4Her TalkCorner featuring this year’s WAYA winner, and a GoGettaz Favorite Food Extravaganza with renowned Chef Ali, Paul Newnham, and youth agripreneurs from across Africa. These side-events drew from the regional priorities identified at the AGRF Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, two weeks prior to the UN FSS. After the UN FSS, AGRA President Dr. Agnes Kalibata and USAID Administrator Samantha Power met to discuss the strategies for implementing the Biden Administration commitments made at the New York Summit, with particular emphasis on priorities in Africa. In the same trip, Dr. Kalibata met with the US Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Dr. Jewel Bronaugh, on the importance of research, extension and food trade towards catalyzing transformation in Africa, and the renewal of AGRA’s partnership with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) leveraging our previous Memorandum of Understanding.

For more information about AGRA at the AGRF 2021 Summit, click here.