4th PAFO Continental Briefing

8th –9th October 2016. Accra. The 4th PAFO Continental Briefing will focus on realizing the potential of smart farming and youth entrepreneurship for African agribusiness. 

Taking place in the context of the African Agribusiness Incubators Network Conference and Expo 2016, the Briefing will provide an unparalleled opportunity to bring the umbrella organization of the regional farmer’s organizations and its members together with youth agribusiness innovators in a forum attended by the leading agribusiness private and public sector representatives, successful agribusiness innovators, and stakeholders representing agriculture, technology and finance who are debating and developing solutions that are transforming Africa’s agricultural landscape.

Panel 1: Youth Led Agribusiness Successes
This panel will discuss innovative and successful agribusiness cases and new business opportunities will be shown and explored with a focus on the factors for success, including the processes and partnerships which have supported these successes. Lessons learned, opportunities for scaling up and out, and potential replication of the successes will be a priority outcome for this session.

• Mrs Caroline Nabukonde (Uganda)
• Youth Participation in agro-processing in Malawi: The case of Lakeshore Agro-Processing Enterprise (LAPE) - Mrs Maness Ngoma Nkhata, SACAU Young Farmers Forum, Malawi
• Famers-led successful business models: lessons learned - Mrs Marie Joseph Medzeme, value chain expert, PROPAC
• Successes in youth-led agribusiness, Mr Ken Lohento, Coordinator, ARDYIS, CTA

Panel 2: Investment in Agribusiness Services
Participants in this session will discuss key issues related to the provision of innovative, competitive and accessible agribusiness services for farmers. The challenges faced in service development and delivery, and the opportunities for investment by various stakeholders, particularly in the context of PPPs, will be explored. A key priority will be the identification of lessons learnt from successful initiatives, and action needed from farmers, FOs, private and public sectors to overcome bottlenecks and create incentives for greater innovation and scaling up of service delivery.

• Mrs Stella Tsiko (Congo)
• Investment in Agribusiness Services: Starting and growing a business from limited resources – success factors - Mr Sibusiso Gule, SACAU Young Farmers Forum, Swaziland
• Transforming services delivering with data management - Mr Chris Addison, Senior Coordinatorm, Data4Ag, CTA

Panel 3: Smart Farming and the role of young farmers and entrepreneursThe goal of this session will be to advance the dialogue and share best practices on smart farming, mechanisation and technology-based innovations for farmers and agribusiness in Africa, improved uptake of appropriate data and ICT tools for African farmers, establishing better information baselines in respect of the technology needs of farmers, existing and successful agritech and mechanisation solutions. It will also identify partnership opportunities at various levels.

• Mr Michael Neligwa (Tanzania)
• Smart Farming and the role of young farmers and entrepreneurs: Smart Management of a poultry farm by a young farmer - Mr Teboho Mosebo, SACAU Farmers’ Forum, Lesotho
• UAVs for Agriculture: the potential for young farmers - Mr Giacomo Rambaldi, Senior Coordinator, ICT4Ag, CTA

Panel 4: Enhancing Policy Dialogue and Partnership Engagement Empowering PAFO and its members to engage with and drive policy dialogue with stakeholders is critical for promoting an enabling environment for the future of agriculture in Africa, both in terms of youth capacity and technology. This session will focus on strategies and priorities for developing, identifying and scaling up successful policy dialogue within PAFO and its members, and how partners can work with FOs to support this objective.

• The Impact of State and Organizational policies in promoting youth in Agriculture – the case of Southern Africa - Mr Benito Eliasi (SACAU)
• Youth in AR4D case study of the PAEPARD project - Mrs Marygoretti Gachagua (EAFF)
• Enhancing Policy Dialogue and Partnership Engagement: Linking Young farmers with Services providers – Sokoine initiatiave in Tanzania - Ms. Magdalene Shirima (SACAU Young Farmers Forum)
• Partnership engagement for PAFO youth - Fatma Ben Rajeb, CEO, PAFO
• Supporting young farmers in policy dialogue: opportunities and next steps - Isolina Boto, Manager CTA Brussels Office, CTA