Friday 25 October 2013

Influencing CAADP on food and nutrition security

Earlier this month, about 80 participants from policy and research institutions that contribute to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme assembled on the campus of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a three-day (7-9 Oct 2013) high level conference on “Research and Policy Challenges in Food and Nutrition Security in Africa” (conference agenda / roundtable agenda).

These included the review board of the FOODSECURE project; invitees from relevant organizations including African Union Commission and NEPAD Agency, UNECA, UNDP, FAO, Embassy Delegations, Ethiopian Economic Association, IFPRI; African Researchers and Policy Advisors; and members of the FOODSECURE research team.

Future Agricultures was represented at the conference by Sam Asuming-Brempong, who is the organisation's CAADP Coordinator and a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Ghana.

FOODSECURE is an EU-based research program to explore the future of global food and nutrition security (FNS). It aims to have an impact by strengthening the knowledge base to support EU policy makers and other stakeholders in the design of consistent, coherent, long-term policy strategies for improving food and nutrition security worldwide. The objective of the conference in Ethiopia was to engage in a dialogue with research peers and decision makers in Africa on the challenges of formulating FNS policies.

samabIn addition to contributing to the general discussion and emphasizing the role that Future Agricultures can play in improving FNS in Africa, Sam also presented the work he did with two others under the FAC Commercialization Theme last year: “Value chain analysis of smallholder pineapple in the Akuapim South municipality of Ghana” by Samuel Asuming-Brempong, Boahen Atta Oppong and Sampson Osei (Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Ghana), which was well received.