“Connecting countries and regions is key to dealing with climate, health and war-related crises,” says Head of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) on the eve of the Africa-Americas ministerial summit

Martin Bwalya — “The Summit, which brings together ministers from Africa and the Americas, is intended precisely to provide a platform where, at the level of policies and technical operations, we can exchange ideas, we can examine issues, we can see how to really ensure the success of individual and collective efforts to provide solutions that support our populations and build resilience to deal with the consequences that we are experiencing,” Bwalya commented.

San Jose, 26 July 2022 (IICA) - In a message on the eve of the first Africa-Americas Ministerial Summit on Agriculture, the Head of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), Martin Bwalya, said it was “critical” that the two continents mobilize to tackle the global health and climate crises, and the effects of the war in Eastern Europe on food security.

Starting Wednesday, ministers, deputy ministers and senior officials responsible for agriculture, environment, and science and technology from some 40 countries will meet in Costa Rica for the first “Africa-Americas Summit on Agrifood Systems”. Other participants will include representatives of multilateral credit and cooperation agencies and the private sector. The purpose of the activity is to lay the foundations for greater collaboration between the two continents in response to the threats to food security posed by the environmental, health and war-related crises.

The African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) has organized the Summit in collaboration with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

Support for the meeting is also being provided by Bayer, the CAF - Development Bank of Latin America, the World Bank Group, Microsoft, Rabobank, Syngenta, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“The Summit, which brings together ministers from Africa and the Americas, is intended precisely to provide a platform where, at the level of policies and technical operations, we can exchange ideas, we can examine issues, we can see how to really ensure the success of individual and collective efforts to provide solutions that support our populations and build resilience to deal with the consequences that we are experiencing,” Bwalya commented.

“Mobilizing the two regions to provide global solutions and tackle these impacts is important and critical. The Africa-Americas Ministerial Summit comes at a time when the entire world is struggling to cope with the effects of COVID-19 and other crises, such as those triggered by climate change and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which are impacting the supply chains of food systems,” he added.

Bwalya suggested that, for that reason, “the summit could not come at a better time: we have realized, in tackling all these issues, that they are really global in nature, so it may not be possible for any single country to achieve sustainable success. We must bring our efforts to bear, we must connect via the countries and find regional, continental, and global solutions.”

Like AUDA-NEPAD, the organizing institutions and the entities supporting the holding of the Summit are convinced that Africa and the Americas face shared challenges, and that the promotion of mutual collaboration and the sharing of experiences will expedite positive transformations within their agri-food systems, making them more productive, sustainable, and resilient.

More information:

Institutional Communication Division

comunicacion.institucional@iica.int