About the Conference

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AKADEMIYA2063, in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC), is convening the 2023 ReSAKSS Conference on November 27-29 in Kigali, Rwanda and online. The event will see the launch of the 15th edition of the ATOR, themed African Food Systems Transformation and the Post-Malabo Agenda.”

About

AKADEMIYA2063, in partnership with the AUC, is convening the 2023 ReSAKSS Conference to launch the 15th edition of the ATOR. The conference will take stock of progress under the Malabo agenda and promote dialogue on pathways toward a more comprehensive post-Malabo agenda that integrates more fully the priorities for successful food systems transformation in the context of a changing climate and global shocks. The goal remains to enhance the implementation of the CAADP/Malabo agenda and advance progress towards an agriculture-led, broad-based economic transformation across Africa. The hybrid event will take place on November 27-29 under the theme “African Food Systems Transformation and the Post-Malabo Agenda”.

The theme of the 2023 ATOR stems from the AU Common Position Paper in response to the September 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) and the need to incorporate its recommendations into the CAADP agenda. The CAADP, as reinforced in 2014 under the Malabo Declaration on agricultural growth and transformation with an expanded set of goals and targets to be achieved by 2025, aims to ensure wealth creation, food, and nutrition security, poverty alleviation, and resilience and sustainability. The momentum created by the UNFSS is therefore an opportunity to substantially improve on the implementation of the CAADP/Malabo agenda. Just as the Malabo Declaration was the opportunity to expand the original Maputo agenda beyond agriculture-led growth, requiring a scaling up of investment and the embrace of evidence-based planning and mutual accountability, this is the perfect time to explore opportunities to deepen the current agenda to address the future needs of effective food systems transformation. For instance, efforts to ensure climate-resilient food systems and agricultural value chains should go beyond climate smart agriculture to reflect broader ambitions in the area of climate mitigation and adaptation. Similarly, the focus on inclusivity and equity in the current agenda needs to be broadened beyond gender mainstreaming and empowerment of women and youth. It will also be important to address the health aspects of successful food systems transformation beyond food safety.

While it is widely agreed that building effective and resilient food systems will help Africa to achieve the Agenda 2063 and CAADP/Malabo goals and targets, it is yet to be seen how much knowledge, both in terms of volume and diversity, is being generated to provide the insights needed by decision-makers to choose the most fulfilling paths.

Generating a body of knowledge that addresses different facets of resilient food systems in more detail becomes critical. Such an undertaking would go a long way in facilitating and informing the policy choices and supporting the actions required to implement game-changing African solutions. In view of the above, this 15th edition of the ATOR offers an opportunity to generate a body of knowledge to support the food systems transformation efforts already set in motion across the continent.

The 2023 ReSAKSS Conference will bring together state and nonstate actors to deliberate on the key findings and policy recommendations of the ReSAKSS 2023 ATOR. A major contribution to the post-Malabo agenda, the report 1) assesses current food systems performance in Africa, 2) analyzes opportunities for transforming Africa’s food systems in relation to strategic themes including health, nutrition, food safety, gender, bioeconomy, climate adaptation, science and technology, and data needs, 3) discusses progress on core CAADP indicators and implementation processes, and 4) provides forward-looking recommendations to inform the post-Malabo agenda.

Objectives

The objectives of the conference are to allow participants to:

  1. Discuss the research evidence and recommendations presented in the 2023 ATOR on the performance of Africa’s food systems under the Malabo agenda;
  2. Examine opportunities for accelerating a sustainable transformation of Africa’s food systems in relation to strategic themes such as health, nutrition, food safety, gender, bioeconomy, climate adaptation, science and technology, and data needs;
  3. Assess progress in promoting mutual accountability through the CAADP Biennial Review (BR) process;
  4. Review progress in the implementing CAADP national and regional agriculture investment plans; and
  5. Evaluate the status of CAADP implementation and progress toward achieving key goals and targets.

Structure

The three-day hybrid event will assemble over 200 participants, with around 100 expected to attend in person. The gathering will facilitate stakeholder dialogue and networking under the following format:

Day 1: Kick-off with side events hosted by AKADEMIYA2063 and identified stakeholders, followed by the official opening of the conference and an opening plenary featuring an overview presentation of the 2023 ATOR, a keynote presentation on the theme, and a moderated panel discussion.

Day 2: Presentations and panel and plenary discussions on the chapters of the 2023 ATOR.

Day 3: Presentations and panel and plenary discussions on the chapters of the 2023 ATOR, followed by the official closing.

STRUCTURE

Day 1: Kick-off with side events hosted by AKADEMIYA2063 and identified stakeholders, followed by the official opening of the conference and an opening plenary  featuring an overview presentation of the 2023 ATOR, a keynote presentation on the theme, and a moderated panel discussion.

Day 2: Presentations and panel and plenary discussions on the chapters of the 2023 ATOR.

Day 3: Presentations and panel and plenary discussions on the chapters of the 2023 ATOR, followed by the official closing.

AKADEMIYA2063 is an international Africa-based non-profit research organization with headquarters in Kigali, Rwanda, and a regional office in Dakar, Senegal. Inspired by the ambitions of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and grounded in the recognition of the central importance of strong knowledge and evidence-based systems, the vision of AKADEMIYA2063 is an Africa with the expertise we need for the Africa we want. This expertise must be responsive to the continent’s needs for data and analysis to ensure high-quality policy design and execution. Inclusive, evidence-informed policymaking is key to meeting the continent’s development aspirations, creating wealth, and changing livelihoods for the better.

AKADEMIYA2063’s overall mission is to create, across Africa and led from its headquarters in Rwanda, state-of-the-art technical capacities to support the efforts by the Member States of the African Union to achieve the key goals of Agenda 2063 of transforming national economies to boost economic growth and prosperity.

Following from its vision and mission, the main goal of AKADEMIYA2063 is to help meet Africa’s needs at the continental, regional and national levels in terms of data, analytics, and mutual learning for the effective implementation of Agenda 2063 and the realization of its outcomes by a critical mass of countries. AKADEMIYA2063 strives to meet its goals through programs organized under five strategic areas—policy innovation, knowledge systems, capacity creation and deployment, operational support, and data management, digital products, and technology—as well as innovative partnerships and outreach activities. For more information, please visit www.akademiya2063.org.

Established in 2006 under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) supports efforts to promote evidence and outcome-based policy planning and implementation. In particular, ReSAKSS provides data and related analytical and knowledge products to facilitate CAADP benchmarking, review, and mutual accountability processes.

AKADEMIYA2063 leads the work of ReSAKSS in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), and leading Regional Economic Communities (RECs). The mission of AKADEMIYA2063 is to provide data, policy analysis, and capacity-strengthening support to enable African Union (AU) Member States to achieve economic transformation and shared prosperity in support of the AU’s Agenda 2063. As the main platform for monitoring CAADP implementation, ReSAKSS tracks the progress of core CAADP indicators through an interactive website and a flagship Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR), the official CAADP monitoring and evaluation (M&E) report. In addition to tracking progress on CAADP core indicators, the ATOR presents analysis on a feature topic of strategic importance to the CAADP agenda each year. For more information, please visit www.resakss.org.

The African Union Commission (AUC)’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (ARBE) leads the efforts to promote sustainable environmental management and agricultural development by boosting member states’ rural economy development and agricultural transformation by supporting the adoption of measures, strategies, policies, and programmes on agriculture. Its mandate includes promoting the implementation of Agenda 2063 Continental Frameworks such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). For more information about AUC-DARBE, please visit: https://au.int/en/arbe.