AGCO Africa Summit 2017

23 January 2017. Berlin. Since its premiere in 2012, this AGCO Africa Summit has established itself as an important institution for discussing critical issues impacting Africa’s agricultural development. What sets the AGCO Africa Summit apart from other agricultural conferences is that it has a strong focus on private sector driven agricultural growth, promoting the idea of agriculture as a business and not a development agenda.

The overall aims of the AGCO Africa Summit were:

• Actively engage and lead the international dialogue on the development of the agricultural sector in Africa within the industry and beyond;
• Raise international awareness for the needs of the agricultural sector in Africa with a strong focus on commercial agriculture, as well as on specific interests of key players throughout the value chain including producers, suppliers, manufacturers, processors and the market;
• Highlight concrete solutions and opportunities for engaging in sustainable agricultural development in Africa and by doing so, encourage other companies to do the same;
• Support the spirit of global partnerships and local cooperation, knowledge transfer and sustainability.

Extract of the programme:

Aligning Agribusiness and Farmer Based Organizations as Co-Creators of Rural Wealth Through Agricultural Development:

• DR. THEO DE JAGER, PRESIDENT, PAN AFRICA FARMERS ORGANISATION DR. 
• SUSAN MBOYA,PRESIDENT, THE COCA-COLA AFRICA FOUNDATION, WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA JOACHIM 
• RUKWIED,PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT OF THE GERMAN FARMERS’ ASSOCIATION 
• JEAN-BAPTISTE NATAMA, SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT FOR AFRICA AT GLOBAL ALLIANCE OF SMES

Evolving Value Chain Strategies and Securing Maximum ‘Value’ for Farmers - Where next?

• ISHMAEL SUNGA, CEO, SOUTHERN AFRICAN CONFEDERATION OF AGRICULTURAL UNIONS (SACAU) 
• ERIC MUTHOMI, FOUNDER AND CEO OF STAWI FOODS AND FRUITS, Stawi Foods and Fruits is a food processing company that processes bananas into gluten free banana flour. To create sustainable growth, banana farmers in Meru, one of the largest banana producing regions in Kenya, needed buyers willing to purchase their produce at responsible prices. The company also produces fortified flours for children and adults to address challenges of malnutrition in Kenya. 
• ELLY SIAKASASA MWALE, FOUNDER AND CEO OF GLYMO ENTERPRISES. She runs her businesses in Zambia for 13 years in agriculture commodity trading, seed multiplication and distribution, training and consultancy. 
• BILL STEPHENSON, CEO AND CHAIRMAN OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD AT DLL

Related:

AGCO Africa Ambassador 2017 contest

Watch Zimbabwean farmer Ruramiso Mashumba talk about the challenges of scaling up for small scale farmers and how AGCO helped her to mechanize her farm.