By Mark Kawalya
A call for deliberate actions to strengthen efforts aimed at ending food insecurity across Africa was issued during the AGRF Summit that was held last month in Kigali. While offering opening remarks, Rwanda’s Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Dr. Edouard Ngirente, said that the summit presented an opportunity for Africa to build momentum and drive comprehensive transformation of the continent’s food systems.
“This summit has gathered the continent to shine the spotlight on how we can advance food system transformation to ensure that it is inclusive, sustainable and resilient for the food security of all. It is time to take action to increase the production and supply of food for households to meet their food needs.”
The AGRF summit brings together more than 2500 delegates, including African heads of state, private sector players, agriculture ministers, development partners, who converge in Kigali, Rwanda.
Under the theme, ‘Grow. Nourish. Reward. Bold Actions for Resilient Food Systems’ discussions focused on ways Africa can successfully traverse crises that the global food supply chain is facing. Possible solutions were also analyzed on how African governments can organize investments and spearhead commitments for delivering food security on the continent.
A key objective of the summit was to find workarounds to bottlenecks standing in the way of developing resilient food systems while taking note of successful approaches that have been deployed in different global markets.
H.E. Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, led a presidential summit comprising former and current African Heads of State to review the gains that Africa has made on its agricultural landscape.
H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn the former Prime Minister of Ethiopia and AGRA’s Board Chair, said that the summit comes at a critical time as Africa grapples with challenges propagated by global food supply issues. He also cited the effects of the Covid pandemic, which undid the gains the continent had made in ending hunger and building food security.
H.E. Dessalegn added that “Food system transformation is key to economic transformation. We need to take bold actions urgently. This calls for new, stronger, innovative and strategic leadership to ensure that food systems are more resilient.”
