When:            28-29 October 2020

Time:              Technical Segment One: Thursday 28, October at 12:00-14:00 EAT

Technical Segment Two: Thursday 28, October at 15:00-18:00  

Main Event: Friday 29, October 14:00 - 16:00 EAT

WHERE:         Zoom virtual platform: Registration in advance is required for this

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEpduygqj8oH9CaZQ5MigWLlZBLlXBuEUnk

WHO:  This event is organized by the African Union Commission (AUC), Department of Agriculture Rural Development, Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy (DARBE)

SPEAKERS: The meeting will be held for TWO consecutive days with various high-level

Speakers and panelist

1. E Amb. Josefa Sacko, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture
2. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, CEO of AUDA-NEPAD,
3. Godfrey Bahiigwa, Director, Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture, AU Commission
4. Stanlake Samkange, Chair of CAADP DPCG

Background

Following persistent episodes of food and nutrition insecurity on the continent, the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government, sitting in their 15^th Ordinary Session in Kampala, Uganda, declared every 30^th October to be the commemoration of the Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS). The Decision requested the AU Commission and AU Development Agency-NEPAD and partners to organize this event at continental level, and urged every Member State to mark it. A side event convened on the margins of this Summit under the banner “Africa must feed itself.

The ADFNS has so far been successfully commemorated 11 times following its launch in Lilongwe, Malawi, on 31^st October 2010. Ten successive editions of the Day were hosted by Ethiopia, AU Headquarters, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania and Egypt. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 edition of the ADFNS was commemorated virtually under the theme “Resilient Food Systems toward Healthy Diets for the Vulnerable during Emergencies: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic”.

Purpose and Objectives

The purpose for commemorating the 2021 ADFNS is to increase awareness of our own African Foods, bring them into the agribusiness domain, and motivate wide acceptability of diets. It is also aimed at building a compelling case for integrating African foods (both from plants and animals) into our different food systems.  The enabling objectives of the 2021 ADFNS are:

1. To act as a one-stop shop for sharing experiences and lessons and motivating wide recognition, production and investment in local and traditional African crops and animal breeds to form diverse and sustainable food systems; thus, catalyzing improved food and nutrition security on the continent.
2. To act as a platform for making local and traditional African foods adopt new production and processing technologies and, virtually, become readily available with increase in demand.

• To garner consensus, strategic directions and recommendations for policy makers to consider, ultimately leading to influencing political will and an enabled environment for scaled-up production, processing, market availability and consumption of our African diets within the context of our different food systems.

6. Expected Outcomes

The overriding outcome expected from the commemoration of the 12^th ADFNS is to arrive at a common understanding and appreciation of the need to enrich African food systems by utilizing the opportunity we have in the form of rich biodiversity of own local or traditional foods, which have over the years been diminishing in both production and consumption. By so doing, the event hopes to widen the range of Africa’s food baskets, increase nutrient bioavailability and drastically cut food insecurity and malnutrition on the continent.

This outcome will be presented in the form of a final communiqué of the event. The event will also produce the summary and synthesis of the technical discussions and recommendations for action.

For More Information on the event:

1. Simplice Nouala Fonkou, Head of Agriculture and Food Security Division, Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, African Union Commission – Email: NoualaS@africa-union.org (Overall Coordinator)
2. Laila Lokosang, Consultant, AU Commission – Email: lblokosang@gmail.com

For Media inquiries:

• Peace Lydia Mutuwa, Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union Commission Tel: 0911-630631; Email mutuwap@africa-unin.org
• Mr Molalet Tsedeke, Directorate of Information and Communications; AU Commission Tel: 0911-630631; Email: molalett@africa-union.org;

Follow the discussions:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AUC_CAADP, #ADFNS2021
• Website link:
• Face book: https://www.facebook.com/AfricanUnionCommission
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/AUCommission
• Learn more at: http://www.au.int