Seeds, Smallholders, and the SDGs: Africa and Building Forward Better
Official Side Event of the 7th Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development
We are delighted to invite you to ‘Seeds, Smallholders, and the SDGs: Africa and Building Forward Better’, an official side event of the 7th Session of Africa Regional for Sustainable Development of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, taking place on Friday 26 February 2021 at 12:00-1:30PM (EAT).
This multi-stakeholder AFRSD-7 side event will explore WBA’s Access to Seeds Index Regional Landscaping Reports for Southern and Eastern Africa (ESA) and Western and Central Africa (WCA), giving insight into the seed sector in the regions and main industry players identified for benchmarking in the 2021 Access to Seeds Index and discussing key findings.
Improving smallholders’ access to seeds is an essential part of achieving SDG–2 Zero Hunger, by increasing crop productivity, diversification and facilitating economic empowerment in Africa and elsewhere.
The roundtable will seek to provide clarity on both gaps and good practices of the seed industry under the ARFSD-7 theme of “Building forward better: towards a resilient and green Africa to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063”, particularly in the wake of COVID-19 which has exacerbated food insecurity further.
As there is a consensus that insufficient access to quality seeds cannot be solved by industry alone, the roundtable will also address the urgency of a path forward that is cross-sector and transcends “North-South” silos, inviting the following speakers:
- Stephen Mugo, Center for Resilient Agriculture for Africa Ltd
- Rogers Mugambi, Chief Operating Officer, East African Seed Co. Ltd
- Harrie Oostingh; Program Manager Sowing Diversity Harvesting Security, Oxfam Novib
- Alice Ingabire, Access to Seeds Index Lead, World Benchmarking Alliance
- Yacouba Diallo, Agri-Input Expert, CORAF (Moderator)
For more information about the Forum visit: https://uneca.org/arfsd2021
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