Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Feed Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience

25-27 January 2023. Dakar. Dakar 2 Summit – Feed Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience. AFDB, AU, FAO, etc

The Dakar 2 Summit builds on the first edition held in 2015 during which the Feed Africa: Strategy for Agricultural Transformation in Africa (2016-2025) of the African Development Bank Group was proposed. After 6 years of implementation, the Bank Group has supported more than 250 million people to benefit from improvements in agriculture. This strategy also helped the Bank Group to promptly respond to the impact on Africa’s food security of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by launching a $1.5-billion African Emergency Food Production Facility to support 20 million farmers to produce 38 million metric tons of food valued at $12 billion. Within only 45 days after the launch of the facility, the Bank Group had approved $1.13 billion for operations in 24 countries.

A key part of the Dakar 2 Summit agenda will include presidential roundtable discussions, high-level plenary and “Food and Agricultural Delivery Compact” sessions.

Click here to read more about the Dakar 2 Summit.

DAY 1 RECORDING

25/01 Role of International Partners in the Compacts for the Acceleration of Agriculture

International development partners have a crucial role to play in supporting agriculture in Africa, particularly in light of significant external pressures. With almost a quarter of Africa’s GDP coming from agriculture, that figure could rise considerably if funding was allocated to increase food productivity.How can these international organizations assist with links to broader markets, boosting prosperity while supporting the growth of financial and social inclusion?
Given limited fiscal space for many African Governments, what are the specific areas where International Partners can support Africa to grow its agriculture?

Ms. Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, Minister of International Development, Norway
Rt. Hon. Andrew Mitchell, Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, United Kingdom
Ms. Anita Vandenbeld, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development, Canada
Ms. Dina Esposito, Assistant Administrator for Food Security, USAID
H.E. Dr. Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser, President, Islamic Development Bank
Mr. Rémy Rioux, Chief Executive Officer, Agence Française de Développement (AFD)
Mr. Osamu Kubota, Vice President, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

25/01 Future of Fertilizer

Increasing agriculture productivity entails soil fertility management. The uptake of fertilizer on the African Continent has been much lower than in other regions of the world. Fertilizer subsidy schemes have not had the intended impact to promote access to fertilizer by smallholder farmers. There is much potential to grow supply and distribution.

How can fertilizer uptake grow in Africa?
How can we ensure the needs of all stakeholders into account, including smallholder farmers, particularly women?
What is the private sector doing and what is the vision for growth of the fertilizer industry in Africa?

H.E. Aly Ngouille Ndiaye, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Equipment and Food Sovereignty, Republic of Senegal
Mr. Mostafa Terrab, CEO, OCP Group
Mr. Aliko Dangote, CEO of the DANGOTE Group
Mr. Ashish Lakhotia, CEO Fertilizer and Agri Inputs, ETG
Mr. Arne Cartridge, Advisor to the CEO, YARA

DAY 2 RECORDING

26/01 Private Sector Investment in Agribusiness

CEOs share their vision for what will stimulate significant growth in the agriculture sector, which countries represent the best opportunities, the role of land expansion, keeping costs competitive for the end user when input costs are rising significantly.

Opening remarks: Hon. Jeanine Milly Cooper, Minister of Agriculture, Liberia (7 mins)Mr. Birju Patel, Vice Chairman, ETG
Ms. Rita Zniber, Diana Holdings
Mr. Ahmed Abdellatif, President, CTC Group, Sudan
Mr. John Coumantaros, Chairman, Flour Mills of Nigeria
Mr. Gerald Mahinda, CEO, Dance Africa Corp
Mr. Gora Seck, President of the « Ferme de la Teranga », membre of the Club des investisseurs Sénégalais (CIS)

26/01 BUILDING MULTILATERAL PARTNERSHIP AND FINANCING SUPPORT

Multilateral organizations discuss the important role that they play in development, governance, networks and support to sector coordination, particularly in times of crisis, and they discuss how that role will change over the next five years.

Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President, African Development Bank Group
H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission
Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, Director General, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA)
H.E. Dr Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser, President, Islamic Development Bank
Dr. Alvaro Lario, President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

26/01 Scaling Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation

Introducing new technological systems and practices, combined with robust extension systems, has the power to transform African agriculture and improve food security. Ongoing improvements in access to scientific research, local and non-local markets, digital agri-systems for input distribution and management tools, gives farmers the potential to increase productivity and income, through participation in a widely connected agricultural value chain and market.

What is the most efficient way to improve agricultural productivity through technology, whilst protecting resources such as water and soil?
How can systems deliver modern food production technologies be market-based and private sector-led for long term sustainability?

H.E. Papa Sagna Mbaye, Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Economy, Republic of Senegal
Ms. Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director General, FAO
Mr. Florent Clair, Head of Partnerships and Sustainability, UPL
Mr. Benjamin Njenga, Co-Founder, Apollo Agriculture Ltd
Ms. Claudia Sadoff, CEO, CGIAR
Dr Melese Mekonnen, State Minister of Agriculture, Federal Republic of Ethiopia

26/01 Closing the Financing Gap

How can we mobilize all parties to address the gap in financing in agriculture in Africa? What role can governments play in creating productive tax policies and stimulating economic growth? What strategies can banks deploy to redefine their measurements of credit risk to generate greater opportunities, particularly for women and young people in the sector? What innovative finance solutions can be used to mitigate rising costs?

Mr. Danladi Verheijen, Co-founder and CEO, Verod Capital
Mr. Malick Ndiaye, CEO, Banque Agricole
Dr. Olagunju Ashimolowo, Vice President, Operations, ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development
Dr. Heike Harmgart, Managing Director, Southern & Eastern Mediterranean, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Mr. Wagner Albuquerque de Almeida, Global Director for Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services, International Finance Corporation (IFC)

DAY 3 RECORDING

27/01 Accelerating Trade and Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones

An integral part of the African Continent Free Trade Area is to have infrastructure that can promote trade. The operation of SAPZs well-connected areas will build a network of interlinked agricultural hubs focused around production, processing, storage, transport and marketing.

What is the best practice business model of a SAPZ?
Are the regulatory and institutional frameworks of these zones robust enough to attract external investment?

Context: Mr. Ousmane Badiane, Executive Chairperson, AKADEMIYA 2063 H.E. Moustapha Diop, Minister of Industrial Development and small and medium industries, Republic of Senegal
H.E. Mohammed Sadiki, Minister of Agriculture, Kingdom of Morocco
Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, Director General, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA)
Mr. Ikenna Nwezi, CEO, Releaf
Mr. Osama Abdellatif, Chairman, DAL Group

27/01 Policies for Transforming African Agriculture

How can policymakers best support African agriculture in the face of climate change? How can policy and institutional environments be made more supportive to attract potential partnerships in agriculture? What is the role of government in the formalization of jobs and land ownership reform to make the sector more inclusive?

H.E. Aly Saleh Diop, Minister of Livestock and Animal Production, Republic of Senegal
Hon. Dr Abu Bakarr Karim, Minister of Agriculture & Food Security, Republic of Sierra Leone
H.E. Josefa Sacko, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, African Union Commission
Simeon Ehui, Regional Director for Sustainable Development for Africa, World Bank
Mr. Chakib Alj, President and CEO, CAP Holding and President, CGEM
H.E. Herve Ndoba, Minister of Finance and Budget, Central African Republic