Food security and agricultural productivity in Africa are the focus of a high-level conference that began Tuesday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The three-day gathering brings together leading policymakers, academics and representatives of farm and trade organizations and private sector groups.
They’re gathered to tackle challenges in agriculture and showcase success stories, which have already increased food production across the continent.
The event is being sponsored by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the African Union Commission, the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.
“What we want from this conference is to find practical solutions that can lead to increasing agricultural productivity in Africa.Then use it as a way of improving security on the continent,” said conference director, Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere, head of IFPRI’s Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office.
He said poverty in Africa can be solved if agricultural productivity can be increased.
Another goal of the conference is to develop policy advocacy to increase investments in agriculture.
Asenso-Okyere said the conference planners hope to bring people together so that partnerships are formed. “Without partnerships, we cannot get moving,” he said.
Please click on the link to listen to entire interview with Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere.