The AGRF Virtual Summit 2020 - A call to use Africa’s agriculture sector to build back stronger from COVID-19

The 2020 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) was held in Kigali, Rwanda, on the theme, “Feed the Cities, Grow the Continent: Leveraging Urban Food Markets to Achieve Sustainable Food Systems in Africa” from September 8-11, 2020.

It was co-hosted by the AGRF Partners Group and the government of Rwanda, under the leadership of the President, Mr Paul Kagame.

A media release issued by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) said like previous events, the AGRF 2020 summit was to bring people together to transform agriculture, raise productivity for farmers and increase incomes – for smallholder farmers especially; an agenda that is more relevant at this time when the world is facing economic and health challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The driving force was the realisation that Africa could only transform with African solutions, African energies and partnerships across the continent and the world.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the AGRF 2020 summit was conducted in a hybrid format, partially online and at the Kigali Convention Centre, Rwanda. The four-day summit registered the largest ever attendance in its 10 years history, with over 10,400 delegates and 320 speakers from 113 countries. It also had the most active social media engagement recording 450 million impressions, up 64 per cent on last year’s event.

Discussions

Delegates comprising heads of state, government officials, political leaders, members of the civil society, private sector players, scientists and farmers engaged one another in discussions on how to leverage the growing urban demand to design flourishing agricultural food systems that were resilient and could withstand shocks, such as COVID-19, climate change and locust and pest invasions.

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Among the distinguished delegates at this year’s event were current and former presidents and heads of government, ministers, governors, mayors and leaders of international agencies, including the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU).

Addressing delegates, the President of AGRA, Dr Agnes Kalibata, said: “We must not relent in our effort to transform food systems for the benefit of everyone and build stronger, resilient and more sustainable food systems.”

Highlights of the summit were the launch of the 2020 African Agricultural Status Report, titled: “Feeding Africa’s Cities Opportunities, Challenges, and Policies for Linking African Farmers with Growing Urban Food Markets”; and the Agribusiness Deal Room, a matchmaking platform that registered 3,611 delegates from 91 countries and gave 208 businesses, 55 financial investors, 20 business development service providers and 54 anchor buyers the opportunity to explore a wide range of investment opportunities valued at  over US$ 4.7 billion.

There was a youth town hall session during which President Kagame challenged the youth to take charge of the continent’s agricultural plans and strategies, saying that the youth were best-placed to lead the agricultural revolution that would drive Africa to a season of food security and economic rejuvenation.

A farmers’ forum was also held alongside the summit and discussions centred on sustainability plans and strategies for overcoming recent challenges and increasing resilience in agriculture; and a ministerial round-table which took stock of where the continent was in regard to policy reforms, partnerships, and financing towards achieving the 2025 Malabo Declaration target of ending hunger in Africa.

Award

A Ugandan Assistant Research Professor at the University of Maryland, Dr Catherine Nakaleme, and a Researcher from Burkina Faso, Dr André Bationo, were jointly awarded the Africa Food Prize (AFP0 2020) for their outstanding achievements, which demonstrates what could be done and what must be done to transform agriculture across the continent.

There was also the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize finale which saw 12 young entrepreneurs compete for the US$100,000 prize. A Tanzanian, Daniella Kwayu of Phema Agri and Rwandese Moses Katala of Magofarm, won the award and each received a US$50,000 cash prize to grow their businesses.

Other winners in the competition were Millicent Agidipo (Achiever Foods, Ghana), Elizabeth Gikebe (Mhogo Foods, Kenya), Dysmys Kisilu (Solar Freeze, Kenya) and Paul Matove (Vertical and Micro-Gardening, Uganda) who all won GoGettaz Impact Award, which came with a US$2500 cash prize.