International Agribusiness Conference

Mr. Chairman,

President of ECOSOC,

Excellencies, Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen,

 

 

Let me start by thanking the organizers of the 3^rd Edition of the Agri- business  Summit 2017, the Africa Marketing Agency and his chair , Mr. Jean Jacques Ewane,  the   Permanent,  Mission of Malawi, here represented by His Excellency Ambassador  Nector Mhura  for their efforts in  bringing together the business community of Africa and the United States, among other stakeholders.

 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations whom I represent is honored to take part in this event and welcome the discussion  of such an important and timely topic.

 

For most countries, agriculture is the first step for sustainable development, as around 80% of the extreme poor still live in rural areas, and depend on agriculture for their survival and  income.

 

At the  2017 Session of the High-level Political Forum, which concluded its work last week, on reviewing  the Sustainable Development  Goal n. 2,  on Ending Hunger, FAO called the attention of all, that for the first time in many years, as  the number of undernourished people is increasing  there is evidence that the major gains that have been made toward ending hunger may be at risk as a result of climate change, conflict, and insufficient investment, that are threatening food security and the timely achievement of SDG2.

 

We also underlined that SDG2 presents a vision for integrated approaches leading to the eradication of hunger and malnutrition, trough sustainable, resilient and productive food and agriculture systems.

 

 

 

Furthermore,  as global population growth accelerates, the world needs to produce more food. To meet these needs, we have to transform our food systems and ensure sustainable management of natural resources and conservation of biodiversity.

 

Agribusiness and agroindustry development is critical in ensuring the development of sustainable food systems to deliver healthy diets to all and to underpin poverty eradication at scale in developing countries.

 

 Agribusiness and agroindustry development has also strong multiplier effects, as it can generate decent jobs, increase profits and create markets for value added products.  Every Year, millions of youth enter labour markets. We need agriculture to attract and absorb this influx.

 

Agribusiness is also key in delivering safer, more affordable, convenient and nutritious food to urban markets.

 

While there are obvious payoffs from ensuring the sustainable development of food systems through agroindustry and agribusiness development, there are also significant challenges.

 

 These challenges include: lack of incentives for responsible private sector investment in agribusiness, weak industrial capacities and capabilities, including technology know how, and low level of entrepreneursip.

 

 Addressing the challenges we have to promote new partnerships and business models, involving the public and private sector, farmers and their organizations, cooperatives, civil society and non-governmental organizations, in order to facilitate the scaling up of responsible investments.

 

And these investments must reach all rural actors , especially woman and youth.

 

Innovation is also key. But innovation is not only about technology, science and research. It is also about transforming social, economic, institutional and policy processes, including governance.

 

 There are already several innovative practices targeted to agribusiness and agroindustry development such as the African Facility for inclusive Market Development and the Accelerated Agribusiness and Agroindustry Initiative Plus (3ADI+), launched by FAO and UNIDO, at the ECOSOC Special Meeting in May, among other initiates that aim to promote business opportunities in the agriculture sector taking the advantage of its existing potentials .

 

 We are confident that  programmes such as the above mentioned  will forge partnerships and enhance developmental impacts among all relevant stakeholders and also link up with different global, inter-regional and regional initiatives required to put food systems development in Africa on a sustainable path.

 

 I trust that the two days of discussions of this Forum will provide an additional platform towards this objective.

 

 Building on the enormous agriculture potential of Africa, through investing in new partnerships, technologies, providing market access and business opportunities for small holders, agricultural producers we can ensure that a world when no one is left behind can become a reality.

 

 I wish you all very productive discussions.

 

 

Thank for your attention.