9th Annual ReNAPRI Stakeholders Conference

1-3 November 2022. 9th Annual ReNAPRI Stakeholders Conference, Windhoek Namibia

The overarching theme of the 9thth Annual Regional Network of Agricultural Policy Research Institutes (ReNAPRI) Stakeholders Conference is; “Looking Ahead: Strengthening Africa’s food system through increased productivity, climate resilience and adaptation”.

ReNAPRI prides itself in being an African owned and African led think tank that is focused on providing good data, analytics, regular outlook and progress reports, policy recommendations and guidance to national governments as well as regional and continental institutions in the African continent.
The 9th Annual ReNAPRI Stakeholders Conference is one, in a number of outreach activities that ReNAPRI network implements in order to effectively share knowledge (through engagement with its partners and stakeholders) and disseminate relevant outputs in support of policy making.

ReNAPRI is implementing a number of projects relevant for finding solutions for the challenges currently facing the African continent such as:

The AU Comprehensive Africa Climate Change Initiative (CAACI) – funded by USAID
Support to the organisation of the AU Africa Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit and development of a 10-year Action Plan – funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID
Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Policy Research Capacity and Influence (PRCI) funded by USAID through Michigan State University which supports the Secretariat and our Africa to African Learning initiative.
Training of ReNAPRI centers and stakeholders in the central, east, west and southern Africa in the use various policy tools.

Download the conference booklet here #95 p.

01/11 Click here to Register

Conference opening

Session 1: Megatrends affecting African food systems: implications for government action

This session was organized in the context of ongoing discussions regarding constraints in fertilizer and
soil health in Africa and needed solutions for the African Union Commission’s Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan to be presented to Heads of State in 2023 at the AUC’s Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit.

Dr. John Olwande Research Fellow Tegemeo Institute, Egerton University - Keynote Presentation
Mr.Chance Kabaghe Executive Director (IAPRI) Board Chair (ReNAPRI)
Mr. Ronald Vargas Secretary Global Soil Partnership FAO
Prof. Pedro Sanchez Professor Emeritus University Florida & World Food Price Laureate
Dr. Shamie Zingore Director of Research & Development African Plant Nutrition (APNI)
Prof. Thomas Jayne Professor Emeritus Michigan State Institute (MSU) Board Member (ReNAPRI)

11:30 Session 2: Farmers's risk and economic use of fertilizers in Sub-Saharan Africa

There are major emerging trends across the continent that will define sustainable and resilient approaches to agricultural productivity growth and economic transformation in Africa. A key starting point is that the intensity of inorganic fertilizer will need to rise dramatically, yet inorganic fertilizer alone has proven to be insufficient to sustainably improve yields or achieve resilience; African governments and development partners will need to focus on a much broader suite of actions to achieve sustainable and resilient agricultural productivity growth that leads to economic transformation.

Dr. Anthony Chapoto Research Director: Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI), Technical Director (ReNAPRI) - Keynote Presentation

Prof. Thomas Jayne Professor Emeritus Michigan State University (MSU) & Board Member
(ReNAPRI)
Mr. Sebastian Nduva Lead Africa Fertilizer International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC)
Ms. Jane Mulemba Farmer Namibia
Eckhart Fortsch Farmer Namibia
Dr. Ndeye Fatou Faye Mane’ Economist (PhD) Institut Sénégalais de Recherche Agricoles (ISRA)
Mr. Thabani Mathews Siziba Agricultural Economist Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development

15:30 Session 3: High level Panel discussion on the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit: thoughts, opportunities and expectations

This session discussed (a) the role of governments and other key stakeholders in ensuring that we achieve strong food systems and resilient livelihoods in Africa; (b) the role of data-driven evidence-based policies in the quest to attain the aspirations of AU’s Agenda 2063 through African and global frameworks such as SDGs, CAADP, Malabo Declaration, AfCFTA, NDCs and NAPs.

Prof. Titus Awokuse Associate Dean for Research and Strategic Partnerships at MSU’s
International Studies and Programs (ISP), Michigan State University
Sebastian Nduva Lead, Africa Fertilizer.Org International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC)
Prof. Sieglinde Snapp Program Director, Soil Health, CYMMIT
Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo Executive Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)
Ndiyapuki Nghituwamata Executive Director, Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform
Shamie Zingore Director of Research and Development African Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI)
Prof. Thomas Jayne Professor Emeritus Michigan State University (MSU)& Board Member (ReNAPRI)
Dr. Godfrey Bahiigwa Director of the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Development African Union Commission

02/11 Click here to Register

9:30 Session 4: Informing policy: towards a 10-year African Fertilizer and soil health

The African Union Commission proposes to bring together high-level stakeholders, including African Heads of State, the private sector, senior policymakers, and high-ranking government officials, to participate in the 2023 Africa Fertilizer Summit II (AFS-II). The Summit will consider the increased interest and investments by the private sector and the lessons learned over the last 15 years to adopt an Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan.

Keynote Presentations:

Ms. Lulama Ndibongo Traub Research Director, BFAP, South Africa (ReNAPRI)
Dr. Emmanuel Mwakiwa Research Director, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe (ReNAPRI)
Prof. Sieglinde Snapp Program Director, Soil Health, CYMMIT

Panel:

Moderator: Mr. Vehaka Tjimune Chairperson, ATF
Dr. Magale Sepopetsa Head of Department, Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa
Erich Petrus Research and Development, Extension Namibia / Conservation Agriculture Namibia
Prof. Ferdi Meyer Executive Director Bureau of Food and Agricultural Policy
(BFAP) and Board member (ReNAPRI)
Providence Mavubi Director, Industry and Agriculture, COMESA
Dr. Maria Wanzala Director of Policy AFAP
Daniel Njiwa Head - Regional Food Trade, AGRA

14:00 Session 5: Implementation of NDCs and NAPs in Africa under the Paris Agreement of Climate Change

The Comprehensive Africa Climate Change Initiative (CACCI) was officially launched on 8th November 2021, during COP26 held in Glasgow. CACCI is an initiative for providing support to African Union (AU) member States in their efforts to respond to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. CACCI is a joint initiative, funded by USAID, with facilitation and technical support from two African institutions ReNAPRI and AKADEMIYA2063 in partnership with Michigan State University (MSU). The initiative will be implemented over a 5-year period, from 2022 - 2026. Year 1 of CACCI is focused on generating a proof of concept in 4 countries of the AU, namely, Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal and Zambia, after which, the initiative will be scaled-out to more countries. With a view of sharing preliminary lessons from the 4 pilot countries, a dedicated session show cased preliminary results from the 4 CACCI pilot countries.

Opening Remarks

Harsen Nyambe Director AUC-SEBE
Dr. Emily S. Weeks Senior Policy Adviser, Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, USAID
Prof. David Tschirley Professor of International Development Department of Food, Agricultural, and Resource Economics Michigan State University

Keynote Presentation:

Dr. Anthony Chapoto Research Director: Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI), Technical Director (ReNAPRI)

Panelists:

Dr. Getaw Tadesse Director of Operations AKADEMIYA 2063 Rwanda & Senegal & Postdoctoral Fellow International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Dr. Brian Mulenga Senior Research Fellow - Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI)
Dr. Simon Bawakyillenuo Senior Research Fellow ISSER- Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research Ghana
Benedict Libanda CEO- Environmental Investment Fund Namibia
Kasanda Bunda Principal Climate Change Officer Adaptation Department of Climate Change & Green Economy, Ministry of Green Economy & Environment, Zambia
Alan Rennison Senior Program Officer Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

16:10 Session 6: STAAARS+ The Structural Transformation of African and Asian Agriculture and Rural Spaces

STAAARS+ is a Fellows program of the USAID Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy, Research, Capacity and Influence.

03/11 Click here to Register

9:30 Side event ECDPM

This session will present and discuss the results of two initiatives that provide an analytical approach to assist with the prioritization of policy reforms and investments for specific agricultural value chains and a methodology for attracting sustainable private investments into agri-food systems.

The Policy Prioritisation through Value chain Analysis (PPVC) approach in ReNAPRI countries, focusing on case studies in Tanzania and Kenya

See: Policy Prioritisation through Value Chain Analysis (PPVC) Deep Dive Analysis on the Aquaculture Value Chain in Kenya Executive Summary December 2021 # 10 p.

Policy Prioritisation through Value Chain Analysis (PPVC) Deep Dive Analysis on the Coffee Value Chain in Kenya Executive Summary February 2022 # 12 p.
The AgrInvest project, a FAO-ECDPM investment methodology to foster sustainable investments in African food systems (case studies in Burkina Faso and Kenya)

Presentations

Prof. Ferdi Meyer, Director of the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) and associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development at the University of Pretoria
Cecilia D’Alessandro and Koen Dekeyser, ECDPM

Panel

Moderator Dr. Nalishebo Meebelo, Executive Director ReNAPRI SecretariatMassimo Pera (agricultural investment specialist FAO)
Pamella Ahairwe (Finance expert ECDPM)
Victor Ndiege (Chief Executive at Kenya Climate Ventures Limited)
Dr. Lilian Kirimi (ReNAPRI Research Director (Kenya) & Tegemeo Institute)

Tuesday, November 1, 2022