Partnerships are critical for accelerating progress toward ending hunger and malnutrition. To this end, leaders from Turkey and Africa met in Antalya, Turkey on 27-28th at the 1st Agriculture Ministers Meeting and Agriculture Business Forum to share experiences and increase cooperation, trade, and investments. The theme for the Ministers Meeting was “Turkey-Africa Partnership on Rural Development for Achieving Food Security”.
Rajul Pandya-Lorch, Chief of Staff in the Director General’s Office at IFPRI, delivered a statement on supporting agricultural transformation in Africa with evidence, knowledge, and partnerships. Several emerging trends present both challenges and opportunities for ending hunger and malnutrition in Africa. Rapid urbanization is transforming rural areas and driving changes in food systems. Rural smallholders may be left behind by this transformation—or they can be supported to take advantage of this increased demand for more and higher value foods. At the same time, Africa is experiencing a youth bulge, with 43 percent of the population under 14 years of age. With the right policies in place, these young people can be supported to contribute a “youth dividend” and help to transform agriculture. To address these challenges, agri-food system transformation has a big role to play. Evidence-based policy research will be essential to help guide policies and programs to be effective and cost-efficient. Ms. Pandya-Lorch reiterated IFPRI’s commitment to supporting rural development in Africa with data, knowledge, tools, capacity strengthening, and evidence-based research to help shape effective policies and programs.
The Forum also hosted eight side-events, including one on Food and Nutrition Security that featured Ms. Pandya-Lorch, who presented and discussed how Compact2025 can help accelerate progress to end hunger and undernutrition in Africa.
Download:
- IFPRI statement at the Turkey-Africa 1st Agriculture Ministers Meeting and Agribusiness Forum
- Compact2025 presentation: Accelerating progress to end hunger and undernutrition in Africa
