Transformative Approaches to Scaling Food Systems Innovations in Africa: Experiences and Lessons

Side Event at the Africa Food Systems Forum’s 2024 Summit

Innovations in food systems are critical for increased agricultural productivity, climate resilience, and ultimately food and nutrition security, improved rural livelihoods, and the economy.

Event description

While Africa is home to several groundbreaking innovations capable of transforming food systems, various barriers have prevented their successful scaling. This side event will focus on experiences and opportunities in scaling innovations in food systems to strengthen food security and livelihoods on the continent. It starts off with a concise overview of the state of food systems in the continent, then a deep dive country case study from Tanzania’s new Seed Sector Development Strategy with its ambitions to establish the country as Eastern and Southern Africa’s seed hub. This is followed by a wider continental perspective to showcase how the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program, a partnership between the AfDB and GCA continues to provide a unique vehicle to stimulate and climate-proof food systems investments.

Session Format
This is a roundtable discussion. It will feature 2 keynote presentations (approximately 15 minutes each) to set the tone for the panel discussion. The panel discussion will feature questions posed by the Moderator to the panel. There will also be an opportunity for the audience to contribute to the discussion by posing questions or giving comments.

Each panelist will have about 3 minutes to respond to a given question. The panel discussion is expected to take approximately 45 minutes and will be followed by a plenary with delegates having an opportunity to ask further questions or make contributions from the floor.

The moderator will then sum up the discussion by presenting the key take-away points and recommendations.