Overview
AATF AND AUDA-NEPAD CONSULTATIVE ROUND-TABLE ON AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR AFRICA’S RURAL ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION
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For Africa to achieve the Agenda 2063 aspiration for “A prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development” (Aspiration 1) the continent needs to invest in modern agriculture for increased proactivity and production as well as exploit the vast potential of Africa’s blue/ocean economy. The Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) is one of the continental frameworks under Agenda 2063 and it aims to help African countries eliminate hunger and reduce poverty by raising economic growth through agriculture-led development as well as promoting increased national budget provision to the agriculture sector. In July 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique, the Heads of State and Government launched the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), an agriculture-led integrated framework of development priorities aimed at reducing poverty and increasing food security on the continent by committing to spend at least 10% of their national budget on agriculture (AU-NEPAD, 2003). The commitment to CAADP was renewed at the Assembly of the AU in 2009 in Sirte, Libya, and reaffirmed in 2014 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, with the adoption of the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated African Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihood. Other key stakeholders such as the private sector and development partners also committed to aligning to CAADP accordingly with, for example, the launch of the Grow Africa initiative for private sector enterprises (Grow Africa, 2016) as development partners committed to tying their assistance to progress in implementing CAADP. Clearly, the vision to end hunger would be realized through doubling of the current productivity level by embracing technological innovations to drive agricultural transformation coupled with necessary appropriate policy and institutional conditions and support systems that facilitate sustainable and reliable production and access to quality and affordable inputs.
Organisers
AUDA-NEPAD
barbarag@nepad.org
AATF
Speakers
Director of the Human Resources, Science and Technology Directorate
AUC
Dr Mahama Ouedraogo
Mahama Ouedraogo holds a PhD in plant breeding from Texas A&M University. He served as acting Director of the Semi-Arid Food Grain Research and Development and Executive Secretary of the African Union Scientific Technical and Research commission. He is currently the head of science and Technology division and acting director of the department Human Resources Sciences science and Technology (HRST), of the African Union Commission. In these capacities he oversees the implementation of various African Union decisions on Science and technology, including the Science Technology and Innovation strategy for Africa (STISA-2024); the African Space Policy and Strategy, and the Pan African University.
Head of African Biosafety Network of Expertise
AUDA-NEPAD
Dr Jeremy Ouedraogo
Dr Jeremy is Head of Regional Office of NEPAD Agency ABNE. Before joining ABNE he was a plant breeder, Head of the Plant Genetics and Biotechnology laboratory in the national research system of Burkina Faso. He holds a PhD degree from the University Laval, Canada and his research focused on the use of biotechnology tools in plant breeding. He has contributed to create many cowpea varieties that are released in Burkina Faso and other West African countries. Since 2002, Dr. Ouedraogo has been fully involved in biotechnology/biosafety strategy development and implementation in his country. He has participated in the committee which elaborated the biosafety guidelines for Bt cotton trials and contributed to the approval of the referred trials as a member of the biosafety scientific committee member. In his rich career, Dr Ouedraogo has been involved in different biotech crops projects for Africa such as cowpea and sorghum in Burkina Faso. He has been a nominated Member of the Africa Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) External Advisory Board. Since October 2015, he is member of the Board of Trustees of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF). Dr Ouedraogo was an elected Member of Burkina Faso Parliament from 2007 to April 2011 and also served as Minister of Animal Resources and Fisheries of Burkina Faso from 2011 to 2014.
Head of Regulatory Affairs
AATF
Dr Francis Nang'ayo
Francis Nang’ayo is an Applied Ecologist and leading expert on biosafety and regulatory affairs, holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Biological Sciences (University of Nairobi, Kenya), an M.Sc. degree in Environmental Biology (University of Guelph, Canada) and a Ph.D. degree in Applied Ecology (Imperial College, University of London). Additionally, he holds a postgraduate diploma in Crop Protection from Imperial College, London. His career as a scientist begun at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) where he worked for close to 20 years rising through the ranks of Research Officer, Senior Research Officer, Principal Research Officer and Deputy Director of the Biotechnology Research Centre in Nairobi. He was later appointed General Manager in charge of Phytosanitary Services, Biosafety, and Quarantine Affairs at the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) before progressing to his current appointment at AATF of Senior Manager and Head of Regulatory Affairs in 2005. He is responsible for securing regulatory approval authorisations for testing and deployment of agricultural technologies including ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements of target countries for AATF projects. Francis is a member of many professional societies including the Entomological Society of Kenya (ESK); the African Crop Science Society, the African Association of Insect Scientists (AAIS), the Public Research and Regulation Forum, the African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum (ABSF) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Expert Panel on Biotechnology and Biosafety, to name a few. Previously, Francis served as Member of the Kenya Standing Technical Committee on Imports and Exports (KSTCIE), the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) of Kenya, Institutional Biosafety Committee of KALRO and the Executive Committee of the Inter-African Phytosanitary Council of the African Union (IAPSAC).
Venue Details
Online - Zoom