Africa: High Level Food Security and Nutrition Conference

10 October 2022
African Union (Addis Ababa)
press release

MEDIA ADVISORY

High level Food Security and Nutrition Conference

INVITATION TO THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA

WHAT: High level Food Security and Nutrition Conference under the theme "Mobilising support

for Food and Nutrition Security"

WHEN: 10 October 2022, starting from 9:00 AM EAT

WHERE: Nelson Mandela Hall, African Union Headquarters, Addis Ababa Ethiopia

WHO: This event is organized by the African Union Commission (AUC), Department of Agriculture Rural Development, Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy (DARBE), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the African Development Bank (AfDB)

KEY SPEAKERS

H.E. Amb. Josefa Sacko, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (DARBE) African Union Commission.

Dr. Beth Dunford, Vice President, Agriculture, Human and Social Development, African Development Bank (AfDB).

Dr. Abebe Haile-Gabriel, Assistant Director-General, Regional Representative for Africa, FAO/RAF. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Mr. Francesco Rocca, President of the International Federation of Red Cross, and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

WHY: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report and the sixth Annual Global Report on Food Crises argue that the global levels of hunger continue to rise. By 2021, over 193 Million people were acutely food insecure and in need of urgent assistance, with the prevalence of food insecurity being higher among women than men globally and in every region. The 2022 projections are expected to further deteriorate as compounding challenges, including the prolonged complex conflict cycles on the continent, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of climate change are likely to increase the threat of food insecurity.

The outbreak of the pandemic disrupted agri-food systems and the supply chains, impacting the world economies, causing inflation in agricultural commodities and basic food-stuffs. Further, global insecurity is predicted to exacerbate the already looming crises of food insecurity as supply chains are disrupted and the global cost of food, fuel and fertilizer rises. In combination, these drivers of food insecurity have widened the hunger and malnutrition gap across the continent, exposing the fragility of global and local food systems.

The high-level Food Security and Nutrition Conference is organised to advocate for scaling-up efforts to meet the humanitarian imperative across the continent while also investing in addressing the longer term needs as outlined in the global and regional commitments. The conference draws from and builds on the extensive work being done at a policy, practice and programmatic level by AU, through the Commission, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as well as Member States and development partners It also leverages the work of the AU Champion on Food Security & Nutrition, H.M. the King of Lesotho & Patron of the Lesotho Red Cross. To mobilize requisite institutional and political commitment to get to scale required for the current and long-term food security needs through increased investments in solutions at all levels.

Purpose and Objectives

Serve as a policy advocacy platform to fast tract the implementation of global and regional commitments, including the implementation of the strategic frameworks such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)

To present the response plans put in place by various institutions to mitigate the impact of the food crisis and appraise the desirability of other additional measures

Build on the Africa Common Position on Food Systems to raise awareness, generate consensus on a shared vision, and galvanise crucial individual and collective actions, such as policy alignment and increased investments, to construct and sustain resilient, sustainable, and inclusive food system ahead of the COP 27.

Preceding the high-level food security conference, a continental wide CSO meeting will be convened, outcome of which will feed into the outcomes of the High-level conference.

Participants: Participants at the high level conference will include Ministers of Agriculture, permanent representatives to the African Union, Development partners, United Nations Agencies, The African Union Commission, Regional Economic Communities (RECs); Regional CSO Umbrella Organizations; Academic

Read the original article on African Union.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2022 African Union. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.