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Pro-Science Agenda in Africa

The Heads of State and Government of the African Union nations have adopted the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated African Agricultural Growth and Transformation.  As part of this, Africans will have to use the best science and technologies for agriculture.

Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union, summarized the key science agenda during the Research to Feed Africa conference September 1, 2014.

“The agricultural transformation agenda, that we (the African Union members) have thus all committed to, calls for harnessing the best technologies, building the required infrastructure, developing effective institutions and crafting appropriate policies with a view to realizing the full potential for the continent’s agrifood systems to contribute to broad-based economic growth and job creation and, in so doing, to shared prosperity and improved livelihoods for a growing and thriving African population, especially, its majority who are youth and women.

To deliver on this vision, our leaders also  adopted the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa (S3A) that should cut across the entire value chains of the agrifood systems and help, over the next 10 years:

  • Double agricultural productivity,

  • Halve post-harvest losses,

  • Develop strategic agrifood commodities value chains, including the agro-processing and agribusiness stages of these value chains,

  • Triple intra-African trade in agricultural products and services,

  • Make at least 30% of farm, pastoral and fisher households resilient to climate change and weather-related risks, and

  • Eliminate child under-nutrition by curbing stunting to 10% and underweight to 5%.

 

Robynne Anderson

Robynne has extensive experience in the agriculture and food sector, working throughout the value chain – from basic inputs to farmers in the field to the grocery store shelf. She works internationally in the sector, including speaking at the United Nations on agriculture and food issues, and representing the International Agri-Food Network at the UN.Throughout her career she has worked with farm organisations like the Prairie Oat Growers Association, the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi and the Himalayan Farmers Association, as well as global groups, to further the voice of agriculture in the food debate. She has also worked with Fortune 500 companies growing worldwide businesses to assist them with issues management and strategy decisions.

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