Platform for African – European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development

Monday, October 14, 2013

AgriBusiness Forum in Rwanda


6 - 10 October. The AgriBusiness Forum is the largest pan-African AgriBusiness Forum held on African soil annually which aims at strengthening the Agri-Food sector in Africa, by encouraging partnerships, exchanging best practices and attracting investments. It is the right platform to discuss and present successful projects and business models. This year, the Forum focused on  "The Agri-Food Sector: A Catalyst for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in Africa”.

Agnes Kalibata, Minister of Agriculture and animal resources qualified the Agribusiness Forum as "an opportunity for us to unlock the potential of agriculture in Africa and Rwanda". She called Rwanda's private sector to join hands with international partners in this venture. Among the speakers were  Monty Jones (Special Adviser to Sierra Leone President & Former ED of FARA recipient of
the World Food Prize, Sierra Leone) and Yemi Akinbamijo, Executive Secretary – Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Ghana

The governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was presented with an award for “Innovative Agricultural Policy and Practice for Inclusive AgriBusiness Development in Africa”. He started the Osun Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Programme (O’REAP) to train youth in farming. The administration is providing the necessary infrastructure and support for farmers with inputs, which requires supplying them with inputs such as improved seedlings, fertiliser and fumigants among others; giving them hundreds of thousand of already prepared hectares of land.

A total of 610 O’YES Cadets were trained last year at the O’REAP Youth Academy Farm Centres located across the nine Federal Constituencies in the state, with selected participants at 20 per Local Government and 10 from Ife East Area Office.

This year’s edition of the O’REAP Youth Academy, witnessed a significant rise in the number of youth participants, each of the 332 wards in the state is fairly represented with three O’YES Cadets per ward, accounting for 996 Cadets to be trained in modern agriculture at the nine training centres of the O’REAP Youth Academy.

The commitment of the governor to raise agriculture from subsistence to mechanised farming is one of the major reasons for sending 40 youths to Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

Extracts from the presentations:

Workshop B – Agribusiness incubation, an instrumental tool to unleash the potential of African agriculture and economic transformation
Alex Ariho
Facility Coordinator
UniBRAIN
Ghana

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Henry Bwisa
Professor of Entrepreneurship - JKUAT
Chairman, Investment Promotion Centre
Kenya

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Somasundararam SM. Karuppanchetty
Chief Executive Officer
ABI-ICRISAT
India

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Session II – How to prepare smallholder farmers for commercial partnerships: strategies to enhance smallholders farmer incomes and market access
Raf Somers
Co-Manager of Seeds & Agricultural Development Program
Belgian Development Agency
Rwanda

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Session III – Agro-industries development  promotion in the East AfricaCommunity: a pathway for inclusive market access
Fiona Lukwago
Assistant Director
Kilimo Trust E. Africa
Uganda

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Moses Marwa
Principal Agricultural Economist
East African Community
Tanzania

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Session IV – Facilitating access to Finance in the agribusinessPART I: The role of commercial financing
Sylvia Ngare
Advisor to the CEO
Centum
Kenya

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Eric Kaleja
Resident Representative
KfW/DEG
Kenya

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Daniel Muhimuzi
Country Manager
Oikocredit
Rwanda

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Special Session - EMRC-Rabobank Project Incubator Award
Bukola Adeshina
A & Shine International Ltd
Nigeria
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Cathy Mbuyi Tshiswaka
Optifood Production
Congo - DRC
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Peace Byandusya
Mushroom Training & Resource Centre
Uganda
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Jean Claude Ruzibiza - Award winner
Rwanda Best
Rwanda
Please contact pmm@emrc.be to receive presentation by email

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