San Jose, July 29, 2022 – Enhancing cooperation between the continents of Africa and the Americas to counter global threats to food security was the focus of an inaugural Agricultural and Food Systems Summit, which took place in San Jose, Cost Rica.

The high-level meeting, convened under the theme “Building Bridges for Cooperation in Agrifood Systems Transformation” was the first of its kind and outlined the role of Africa and the Americas in global food and environmental security.

The Summit also provided opportunities for bi-regional cooperation in science, technology and innovation, with a view to building resilient and sustainable food systems.

The ministerial meeting was held at the headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in San Jose, from the 27-29 July 2022. It brought together Ministers of Agriculture, national senior officials in the fields of environment, science and technology, heads of international organisations and private sector representatives to discuss enhancement of cooperation between the two continents.

The Summit of Africa and the Americas was organised by IICA, the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), who agree that both continents face common challenges in advancing agrifood system transformation and will benefit from sharing experiences to foster collaboration within the framework of South-South Cooperation.

It was opened by H.E. Stephan Brunner Neibig, First Vice-President of the Republic of Costa Rica, Dr Manuel Otero, Director General, IICA, H.E Ms Nardos Bekele-Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, AUDA-NEPAD, Dr Agnes Kalibata, President, AGRA, H.E Amb. Josefa Leonel Sacko, Commissioner, AUC-ARDBE and H.E Keithlin Caroo, IICA’s Special Ambassador for the First Africa-Americas Summit and IICA Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainable Development Issues.

The Summit comes at a time when a partnership between Africa and the Americas is more important than ever: the Russia-Ukraine Conflict has destabilised world commodity markets and global trade flows, leading to an increase in global food and input prices. The conflict has also negatively impacted recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries in Africa and the Americas, where food security is threatened.

“I am confident that this exchange will contribute to enhancing the quality, relevance and appropriateness of the individual and collective interventions for the desired transformative impact on the agricultural and food systems,” said Ms Bekele-Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of AUDA-NEPAD.

“I think we have a vision of what needs to be done. The focus now is implementation – how do we deliver the impact and transformation that’s needed so that there is capacity and systems to deliver solutions against shocks as well as ensure the necessary levels and extent of economic growth our people need,” said Ms Bekele-Thomas.

The hybrid Summit is the most important event within the framework of joint efforts between leaders of Africa and the Americas to align their priorities based on productive, environmental, cultural and historical similarities and common challenges with respect to agrifood systems.

At the summit, ministers and officials identified areas of joint work and cooperation between the two regions, as well as the operational and financial mechanisms required to mobilise the necessary resources to increase the productivity, inclusion, and sustainability of agrifood systems.

The focus was on five key areas:

• Science, technology and innovation, including biotechnology

• Climate change and resilience

• Digital agriculture

• Institutional innovations and policies for social inclusion, safety nets, health and nutrition and the recovery of degraded natural resources

• Fostering a more fair and transparent international food trade system.

ENDS

For media enquiries, please contact:

Ms Mwanja Ng’anjo | Ag. Head of Communications, AUDA-NEPAD | MwanjaN@nepad.org