On the margins of the Africa Regional Forum for Sustainable Development (ARFSD7), a virtual side event, under the title, “Conflict-Climate change-COVID-19 nexus: A food systems perspective” is taking place on 01 March 2021 from 12.00-13.30 PM (East Africa time). Jointly Organized by ECA, FAO, IFAD, UNICEF and WFP, the side event is aimed at exploring the interplay of these three factors, their implication on the African food systems. The side event is expected to come up with some actionable measures towards enhancing the resilience of African food systems in the face of these three re-enforcing crises.

BACKGROUND

Building on the overall theme of the 7th ARFSD, “Building forward better: towards a resilient and green Africa to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063”, the proposed side event a􀆩 empts to highlight the combined impact of three disruptive events, namely: confl icts, climate (extreme weather events), and the COVID-19 pandemic in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa Union’s Agenda 2063. The background paper on SDG2 confi rms the profound impact of these three factors on the agriculture sector and food systems in Africa, impeding the path to food security and nutrition on and accelerating agricultural transformation. The proposed side event is built on the fi ndings and recommendations of the 6th ARFSD, which focused on food security-poverty nexus. The deliberate on of this event and the background documents will enrich the discussions on the subjectmatter.

Learn more: https://www.uneca.org/arfsd2021