This year’s Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) Summit will be held in Kenya in September.

The meeting typically brings together stakeholders from the agricultural sectors to share lessons aimed at advancing agriculture in Africa.

Speaking at a press conference on the upcoming event in Nairobi, AGRF President Hailemariam Desalegn said Kenya’s private sector will have the opportunity to showcase some of the innovations it has developments and the progress the country has made towards sustainable food systems.

He said that before the COVID 19 pandemic, nearly 690 million people, or 8.9% of the world’s population, were undernourished and that if this trend continues, undernourishment will exceed 880 million. ‘by 2030.

Two billion people or 25.9% of the world’s population have suffered from hunger at the same time, Desalegn said, adding that this means there was not enough food and therefore shows how much agriculture is important to the global community.

“We are not on track to deliver on the commitment to end hunger by 2030. Food security statistics are not encouraging and we will need a new approach that translates into mobilization of people. resources for the eradication of hunger, by combining public and private investments, otherwise we will not achieve zero. hungry, ”he added.

The former Ethiopian prime minister said that in order to be able to attract investment in the Kenyan private sector, the agribusiness trading room that will be provided at the forum is an opportunity for Kenyan businesses.

“Those looking for investors will be able to share their investment needs with more than 50 global investors interested in African agriculture. Over the past three years, more than 300 African companies have shared investment needs exceeding $ 1.4 billion, ”he said.

Desalegn said Kenya remains a successful model for the agricultural sector, and that the AGRF 2021 Summit is another opportunity for the world to see Kenya’s progress.

He urged the private sector to partner with AGRA and AGRF to take the opportunity to showcase Kenya’s leadership in agriculture and seek investors to invest in Kenyan businesses.

“The private sector that drives innovation in Africa is playing a role by investing to support farmers’ access to good yield improvement technologies (seeds, fertilizers and crop protection chemicals), finances, markets, post-harvest technologies, irrigation and mechanization. services, ”Desalegn said.

Agnes Kalibata, president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, said Africa should stop being synonymous with hunger because we are not a hungry continent and we have the best resources in the world, people who work hard and we work on the best private sector ever.

“Kenya will bring the whole world to Kenya at this next meeting and our focus in food systems is to recognize that our environment also needs that we pay attention to what we are doing and that we cannot just produce food. and doing business without realizing that the environment is begging to bend under the weight we put on it.

She added that the forum is designed to energize political will and advance the policies, programs and investments needed to achieve inclusive and sustainable agricultural transformation across the continent.

“The forum works explicitly to help African countries and the continent to continuously progress towards achieving the visions set out in the Malabo Declaration and Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa’s Agenda 2063 ”, Kalibata mentioned.

Jennifer Baarn, AGRA’s Head of Partnerships, said she expects 500 participants as well as 10,000 people from 150 countries virtually participating between September 7-10,

“The forums will look at value chain development, SME development, business models for farmers and transactions that help small farmers. If we don’t support small farmers and SMEs, we will fail in agricultural transformation, ”she said.

According to the latest FAO report on The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020, we are not on track to deliver on the commitment to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition by 2030.

Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic, along with unprecedented desert locust plagues in East Africa, clouded the economic outlook in ways no one could have predicted, and the situation cannot. only get worse if Africa does not take unprecedented action.

By Wangari Ndirangu

Summit of the Forum on the Green Revolution in Africa Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, President of AGRF, Hailemariam Desalegn