Background

The food and nutrition security situation in Africa’s drylands particularly in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa remains a major concern, marked by both chronic and acute poverty and vulnerabilities. Recurrent and protracted crises, mainly driven by climatic shocks and stresses, natural resource degradation, volatile food prices, conflicts, coupled with poverty and chronic vulnerabilities, have eroded the coping capacities of the small-scale farming and (agro-) pastoralist populations and weakened their livelihoods. In Africa’s drylands, the majority of the population are dependent on farming and pastoral activities both of which are particularly susceptible to disasters or extreme events such as droughts and floods. Given the commonalities characterising the drylands of Africa, it is highly desirable to reinforce shared understanding and boost capacities in order to strengthen regional collaboration on resilience for the food and agriculture sectors. Exchanges for synergy and cross-fertilization as well as to build the institutional capacity of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and African Union Commission (AUC) to scale up proven cost effective resilience enhancing good practices is essential to tackle food insecurity and malnutrition for present and future generations. Building the resilience of agricultural livelihoods of most vulnerable populations and countries is crucial to achieve the goals of the Malabo Declaration and meet the SDGs.

 Objective

The workshop will be an opportunity to take stock and build on achievements for continued regional collaboration and exchanges for resilience building with all stakeholders such as CILSS, IGAD, SADC and AUC. The FAO regional TCP was instrumental in adopting a unified approach to build resilience in Africa, while addressing contextual specificities and priorities in each sub-region in close collaboration with the RECs. RECs will also share experiences on regional capacity building, collaboration and exchanges on resilience for food and agriculture that will form the basis for the discussions during the workshop.

When: 10 - 11 June, 2019

Where: The workshop will be a two-day workshop on 10 and 11 June 2019 at Jacaranda Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.

Who: The workshop will be attended by:

Jean Senahourn: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Luca Russo: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Dr. Ayanleh Bogale: African Union Commission