Africa Regional Dialogue - Joint Action on COVID-19: Boosting our Africa Food and Agriculture Response
Context
In April, the FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and the Chair of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment Angela Thoko Didiza co-convened the AU-FAO ministerial meeting on the impacts of COVID-19 on food security in Africa. The meeting was moderated by the AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Josefa Sacko, and the outcome was a joint declaration calling in part for resource mobilization.
A joint Taskforce to implement the declaration first met on 12 May 2020. Four work streams were identified: (i) Dissemination of the declaration, Outreach and Advocacy; (ii) Alignment with International, Continental and regional Frameworks; (iii) Resources mobilization (financing/ investment); (iv) Support to new food insecurity hotspots.
The FAO Director-General convened an Online Global Dialogue ‘’Joint action on COVID-19: boosting our global food and agriculture response’’ on 14 July 2020 and FAO’s Chief Economist Maximo Torero presented the global FAO COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme with seven key priority areas.
Built on the above-mentioned joint efforts, the FAO Regional Office for Africa is organising an Africa regional dialogue under the theme Joint action on COVID-19: Boosting our Africa Food and Agriculture Response, focusing on Africa regional issues.
Objectives:
- CONSULT with resource partners on priority programme areas to strengthen the agrifood sector response to COVID-19 in the Africa region;
- DEMONSTRATE opportunities for partnership in responding to the immediate humanitarian food crises, alongside mid- and long-term development actions;
- MOBILIZE all forms of resources and partnerships for joint results at country, sub-regional and regional levels.
Date & Time: 12.00-14.00 GMT/West Africa, Monday, 3rd August 2020
Modality: Zoom with simultaneous interpretation in English and French
Key Speakers:
- Beth BECHDOL, FAO Deputy Director-General (t.b.c.)
- Abebe HAILE-GABRIEL, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, (Moderator)
- H.E. Josefa SACKO, African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture
Other high-level speakers include representatives from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, African Development Bank (AfDB), Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), European Union Delegation to the African Union, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), United States of America (USA) Embassy to the African Union, World Bank, World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO), the private sector, and farmers organizations.
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