President Paul Kagame has challenged Africans to invest more in agriculture and reap the enormous benefits.
He was addressing the youth via a virtual summit for the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) -a platform for global and African leaders to develop actionable plans that will move African agriculture forward.
'The potential of agriculture on our continent is vast. But we need to invest more, and get more out of the investments we have already made,' President Kagame said during the AGRF2020 Youth Town Hall.
According to President Kagame, the potential in Agriculture on the continent includes; public infrastructure and the value chains, partucularly for the growing urban food markets that underpin prosperity in rural areas.
'What we need from you is the corresponding focus and innovative spirit, so that agriculture can indeed serve as the basis of Africa's economic transformation,' Kagame said in his brief remarks to the interactive hybrid gathering.
The summit kicked off on 8th September and is scheduled to be concluded on September 11 [Frida].
The theme of the summit, Feed the Cities, Grow the Continent: Leveraging Urban Food Markets to Achieve Sustainable Food Systems in Africa, is a call to action to rethink our food systems to deliver resilient, better nourished, and more prosperous outcomes for all.
Dr. Agnes Kalibata Rwanda's former Agriculture Minister is the President of AGRA and Special Envoy to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit.
'We need food systems that are equitable, sustainable, resilient, and capable of meeting the global challenges of malnutrition, poverty and climate change as well as be responsive to emerging and unforeseen challenges â€" such as those posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We must not relent in our effort to transform food systems for the benefit of everyone,' Dr Kalibata said.
About AGRF
The AGRF Secretariat is hosted by AGRA on behalf of partners; itself an African-led institution that works in 11 countries across the continent. The Government of Rwanda serves as a long-term host of the forum, championing its agenda throughout the year and hosting the annual Summit in all even years, i.e. 2020, 2022 and 2024. The Chair of the AGRA Board, also serves as Chair of the AGRF Partners Group.
The Forum is particularly focused on driving progress of the Malabo Declaration by 2025 as the priority set of commitments African Heads of State and Government have made to strengthen agricultural development at the center of the continent's overall development and progress.
