AfDB, FARA’s High-Level Dialogue on Feeding Africa 2021 holds April 29-30

The African  Development Bank (AfDB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in partnership with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the CGIAR System Organization will on the 29th and 30th of April, co-host a high level dialogue which will focus on feeding Africa, with a niche on leadership to scale up successful innovations.

The dialogue session, which will be wholly virtual will have in attendance African heads of state, senior government officials, heads of multilateral development banks, development partners, regional organizations, research institutions as well as relevant experts from across the continent.

A pre-event media advisory by the hosts said irrespective of the successes recorded in economic development across many African countries, hunger had been on the rise, impacting about 246 million people, noting that the Coronavirus pandemic has had a massive effect on the continent’s food system, which was already under strain from climate change, conflicts and pests.

Consequently, amongst others, the dialogue will seek to secure political commitments at the highest level of Africa’s leadership to replicate successes from across the continent; showcase impactful stories to secure resources and replicate in priority commodities across the continent; and subsequently, arrive at a shared vision for mobilizing investments to produce technology and innovation that transform African food systems.

The two-day dialogue session will climax with a communiqué that will contribute to the pre-Food Systems Summit holding in Rome in July 2021, which will be followed by the United Nations Food Systems Summit later in the year.