Agriculture as an engine of economic reconstruction and development in fragile countries

27 June 2018. The latest Brussels Development Briefing no. 51 on ”Agriculture as an engine of economic reconstruction and development in fragile countries ” was organised by the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), in collaboration with the European Commission / DEVCO, the ACP Secretariat, and CONCORD.

• Background Note
• Programme 
• Reader
• Biodata of the speakers

Panel 1: Fragility and its implications for agriculture

This panel shared concepts and approaches to fragility, lessons learned from selected countries and the implications for the agricultural sector and the rural communities.

• What have we learned about fragile states: challenges and opportunities - James Putzel, Dept International Development, London School of Economics, UK [presentation]
• Agriculture as a way to bridge the humanitarian–development–peace divide in fragile contexts - Rajendra K. Aryal, Senior Programme Advisor, Resilience Building, FAO [presentation]
• Investments in Agricultural private sector in conflict-affected or post-conflict countries - Alexandros Ragoussis, Economist, Thought Leadership, Economics and Private Sector Development, IFC, World Bank Group

Panel 2: Successful practices in agriculture in fragile countriesThis panel shared successes from the field from selected fragile countries highlighting sustainable practices in production and market development and positive impact at local level.

• Connecting farmers to markets in fragile countries : Successes and lessons learned - Bing Zhao, P4P Director and Global Coordinator, World Food Programme
• Farmers’ Organisations: a social and economic force in a context of chronic instability - Annick Sezibera, Executive Secretary, CAPAD, Burundi [presentation]
  
  
  
  
• Disaster Risk Reduction and resilience building: the case of South Sudan - Harma Rademaker, Programme Manager, Cordaid, The Netherlands [presentation
• Building resilience to mitigate the effects of future shocks in the agricultural sector in Somalia - Katharine Downie, Head, Data Quality Assurance, M and E and Innovation, Worldvision, Somalia [presentation]