The African Union Development Agency-NEPAD and the African Union Commission hosted on the 6th May 2021, a consultative dialogue with the Regional Economic Communities on the Common African Position leading up to the UN Food Systems Summit.

The dialogues which started in March 2021 are aimed at engaging extensively across various interest groups, players and stakeholders on perspectives, experiences and commitments with the ultimate goal of having a unified African stance at the UN Food Systems Summit scheduled for September 2021.

AUDA-NEPAD has been engaging RECs to build necessary linkages with regard to policies, investments and other development instruments on and about food systems.

During the opening session of the dialogue, the AUDA-NEPAD Director of Programme Innovation and Programme Development, Mrs Estherine Lisinge-Fotabong indicated that AUDA-NEPAD and AUC organized the meeting with the RECs to support the development and advocacy of the African Continental voice and position towards the UN Food Systems Summit.

“We believe that it’s important to have a coordinated approach in order to highlight the interests of Africa that will be addressed at the Summit”, she said.

She stated that while the issues needed to transform global and national food systems seem to be complex, they can be achieved if actions are taken on how food is produced, processed, consumed and the role it (food) plays for the people and the planet.

Her sentiments were echoed by Dr Godfrey Bahiigwa, AUC Director of Rural Economy and Agriculture, who elaborated on the importance of consulting different stakeholders to ensure that Africa’s common position at the Summit would improve and strengthen Africa’s food systems and advance its’ transformation agenda.

During the dialogue, the RECs representatives were tasked with addressing and giving input on four critical questions, namely:

• Bottlenecks in implementing agreed upon goals and targets towards sustainable and inclusive food systems

• Existing opportunities that can be leveraged on to up-scale efforts in improving food systems

• Leveraging on the Africa Continental Free Trade Area agreement to transform Africa’s food systems

• A systems approach to sustainable and inclusive food systems

Leading up to the Summit, the African Union will be consolidating all the critical inputs from different stakeholders in order to craft an African Common Position Paper to be tabled at the Summit.

“We have taken responsibility for the technical development of the Africa Common position for the UN Food Systems Summit. It must reflect the needs, aspirations and objectives of the Member States” said Martin Bwalya during the dialogue.

About the UN Food Systems Summit:

In 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres will convene a Food Systems Summit as part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The Summit will launch bold new actions to deliver progress on all 17 SDGs, each of which relies to some degree on healthier, more sustainable and equitable food systems.

The Summit will awaken the world to the fact that we all must work together to transform the way the world produces, consumes and thinks about food. It is a summit for everyone everywhere – a people’s summit. It is also a solutions summit that will require everyone to take action to transform the world’s food systems.

Guided by five Action Tracks, the Summit will bring together key players from the worlds of science, business, policy, healthcare and academia, as well as farmers, indigenous people, youth organizations, consumer groups, environmental activists, and other key stakeholders. Before, during and after the Summit, these actors will come together to bring about tangible, positive changes to the world’s food systems.