The 2017 Symposium theme, "The Road out of Poverty" encapsulated the power of treating agriculture as a business, and the impact of truly “bringing it to the farmer”, as Norman Borlaug taught. The theme is drawn from “Africa’s Norman Borlaug”, the 2017 Laureate President Akinwumi Adesina (picture left) of the African Development Bank who has made it his life’s mission to promote agriculture, good nutrition, and education as the keys to “uplifting millions out of poverty.”“As someone who grew out of poverty, I know that poverty is not pretty. My life mission is to lift up millions of people out of poverty, especially farmers in rural areas...We must give hope and turn agriculture into a business.” AFDB President AdesinaDiscussion Topics and Highlights included:
- Relationships among conservation, trade, and agricultural productivity in Latin America;
- Roles of dairy in encouraging global economic development;
- A global snapshot of fertilizer use and impact around the globe;
- Biotech research and knowledge transfer in specialty crops;
- Securing Africa's farming future by fostering young African farmers;
- New methods for climate-proofing smallholder farms in Sub-Saharan Africa;
- The transformation of Eurasian and Russian agriculture from famine to feast.
The brief looks at the challenge of providing healthy diets in urban environments in low- and middle-income countries, presenting eight recommendations directed primarily at policymakers especially those working at the sub-national level.
The brief gives particular focus to the growing threat of diet-related non-communicable disease. The greater wealth in urban centres, relative to rural areas, does not necessarily lead to healthier diets, with excessive consumption of highly-processed foods that are high in calories but low in nutrients.
- H.E. Akinwumi Adesina - President, African Development Bank
- Sandy Thomas - Director, Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition
- Emmy Simmons - Co-Chair, Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa/Asia
- Tom Arnold - Former Director General, Institute of International and European Affairs
- Agnes Kalibata - President, The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), @Agnes_Kalibata, @agraalliance
The eight recommendations in the brief call for a wider policy approach which integrates actions from food, agriculture and nutrition into urban planning, education, health, sanitation, water and infrastructure development. It will also require a shift in attitudes towards the informal food sector and the collection of better data on urban diets.
The brief shows how policymakers at the local level need to champion better diets and nutrition, but this requires them to be both mandated and empowered to act
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Hosted by: African Development Bank and Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition
- Lindiwe Majele Sibanda - Vice President for Country Support, Policy, and Delivery, The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
- Mercy Lung'aho - Research Scientist, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
- Ariong Moses - Project Specialist, One Acre Fund - Uganda
- Salif Niang - Co-founder, Malo SARL
- Sithembile Mwamakamba - Senior Programme Manager, FANRPAN
- Emma Naluyima - Farmer and Private Veterinarian
19 October. African Development Bank Announcement | Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT)- H.E. Akinwumi Adesina - President, African Development Bank
- Jennifer Blanke - Vice-President, Agriculture, Human and Social Development, African Development Bank
- Agnes Kalibata - President, The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), @Agnes_Kalibata, @agraalliance
- Rajiv Shah - President, The Rockefeller Foundation, @rajshah, @RockefellerFdn
- Nick Austin - Director of Agricultural Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Haleh Bridi - Director for External Communications in the Africa Region, World Bank
- Joachim von Braun - President, Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Professor, Director of Center for Development Research (ZAF), Bonn University, @joachimvonbraun
- Ousmane Badiane - Africa Director, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
- Gebisa Ejeta – 2009 World Food Prize Laureate, @PurdueAg, @PurdueAgronomy
- Nachilala Nkombo - Interim Africa Executive Director, ONE Campaign
- Stefan Schmitz - Deputy Director-General and Commissioner for the "One World - No Hunger" Initiative
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Hosted by: Chemonics International
- Eric Reading, Executive Vice President, Chemonics International
- Abdou Konlambigue, Managing Director ATTC, IITA
- Mario Kerby, Director, Chemonics
- Orin Hasson, Senior Program Officer, The Gates Foundation
- Angela Hansen, Advisor, Dalberg Global Development Advisors
- Kenton Dashiell, Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery, IITA
19 October. State of Food and Agriculture 2017: Empowering Rural Communities in Pursuit of Zero Hunger
Hosted by: Alliance to End Hunger and The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations
20 October. Dance of the Lions and Dragons: How are Africa and China Engaging, and How Will the Partnership Evolve?
- Sunil Sanghvi - Senior Partner, McKinsey and Company
- Irene Sun - Engagement Manager, McKinsey and Company
- H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo - Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
- H.E. Josefa Leonel Correa Sacko - Commissioner for the Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union Commission, @_AfricanUnion, @AUC_CAADP
- Charlotte Hebebrand - Director General, International Fertilizer Industry Association
- Richard Mkandawire - Director, Alliance for African Partnership/MSU
- Mustafa El Ouafi - Managing Director, OCP Group
- Benjamin Pratt - Vice President of Corporate Public Affairs, The Mosaic Company
DR. AKINWUMI AYODEJI ADESINA, the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), was recognized as the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate. Through his roles over the past two decades with the Rockefeller Foundation, at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and as Minister of Agriculture of Nigeria, Dr. Adesina has been at the forefront of galvanizing political will to transform African agriculture through initiatives to: expand agricultural production, thwart corruption in the Nigerian fertilizer industry and exponentially increase the availability of credit for smallholder farmers across the African continent. 
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