Accra to host Africa Foodbank confab'24 - NaijaAgroNet

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The capital city of Ghana, Accra is warming up to host the four-day 2024 Africa Food Bank Conference as part of the Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) from Monday, January 29 through Thursday, February 1, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This, the organisers said, is building on the Nairobi gathering in November 2022, and will be a further opportunity for food banks from across Africa to gather in-person to discuss common themes and challenges facing food banks and learn from the experience and expertise of peers. As food banking continues to advance in Africa, we look forward to welcoming new GFN members to the Africa food bank community at this event.

PermSecs reiterate commitment to accelerate agriculture in Africa

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The second retreat for the Permanent Secretaries ended in the city of Accra, Ghana with reiteration to accelerate agricultural transformation across the continent, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The retreat, NaijaAgroNet also reports was aimed at accelerating the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) to transform agriculture in Africa, assembled over 100 participants including Permanent Secretaries and CAADP Focal persons of Ministries of Agriculture, Rural Development, Livestock and Aquaculture and the Regional Economic Communities. 

Declaring open the expert gathering convened by the African Union Commission in collaboration with the NEPAD Agency in Accra, the Ghanaian Minister for Food and Agriculture, Alhaji Mohammed-Munira Limuna noted that even though the agricultural sector is faced with numerous challenges such as low uptake of modern technologies, depleting natural resources especially water and climate change negative impacts, solutions that could be adopted to counter them at national level should be sought and implemented.

In addition, NaijaAgroNet gathered that the retreat provided space for Permanent Secretaries to reflect on several thematic and policy factors, especially on the El Nino and implications on agricultural transformation and food security; Trade and industrialization drive and implications for agriculture; and Land tenure systems and trends and implications for the Malabo commitments.

They also focused on validating the revised Country CAADP Implementation Guidelines.  This includes modalities for monitoring and evaluation, reporting and accountability including operationalisation of the African Union Biennial CAADP Review Cycle.  Country perspectives were also sought on CAADP-Malabo Financing Architecture; technical networks arrangement to mobilise and make accessible expert support arrangements, and; revising the CAADP partnership architecture. 

NEPAD’s Head of Programme Development, Mr. Martin Bwalya told participants that the outcomes of the meeting will clarify the necessary measures needed to achieve the CAADP Malabo Declaration targets for results and impact in agriculture, food security and nutrition.

While the AUC Director for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Dr. Janet Edeme, reiterated one of the critical objectives of meeting as being “The review of progress in implementing CAADP and the guidelines developed to help guide countries in implementation.” 

NaijaAgroNet recalls that permanent secretaries are the primary custodians of government policy and practice.  They are also the overall accounting officers in their government ministries, thus putting their offices and mandates at the centre in driving institutional reforms and overall transformation in national development goals.

  
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Invest in yam research and development-IITA

        

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The first ever global yam conference kicked off in Accra, Ghana with a call for an increased funding for yam research and development in order to help unlock the potential of the crop and enhance food security in Africa.

Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Nteranya Sanginga said that what is needed to unlock the crop’s full potential is the political will by sustaining and enhancing funding support for yam research and development.

Sanginga commended the government of Japan, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) for supporting IITA on yam research and called on researchers to develop a vision for the crop.

NaijaAgroNet gathered from the researchers that yam known as the ‘king of crops’ has high cultural value especially in traditional marriages in Africa and has contributed to incomes and food security, but under-researched due to low funding,

The Executive Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Dr Yemi Akinbamijo noted that in spite of the contribution to food security and incomes, African crops such as yam have not commanded the attention they deserved, and have as a result remained underutilized.

The IITA Director for Western Africa, Dr Robert Asiedu  and the Convener of the Global Conference on Yam said that the event provided a platform for consultation and development of a global strategy for improving the yam sector based on genetic enhancement; crop protection and mitigation of risks due to pests, diseases and climate change; conservation of genetic resources; prevention of postharvest losses; improved seed systems; crop diversification; and enhancing industrial potential of yam and improved market access.

NaijaAgroNet learnt that the Global Conference on Yams provides a platform for stakeholders to explore recent innovations in yam improvement, share lessons learned, identify research and development needs, and develop global alliances.

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