2017 Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium

27th October 2017
by secretary

Paepard

18-20 October 2017. Des Moines. The World Food prize, 2017 Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium

The 2017 Symposium theme, “The Road out of Poverty” encapsulated the power of treating agriculture as a business, and the impact of truly “bringing it to the farmer”, as Norman Borlaug taught. The theme is drawn from “Africa’s Norman Borlaug”, the 2017 Laureate President Akinwumi Adesina (picture left) of the African Development Bank who has made it his life’s mission to promote agriculture, good nutrition, and education as the keys to “uplifting millions out of poverty.”

“As someone who grew out of poverty, I know that poverty is not pretty. My life mission is to lift up millions of people out of poverty, especially farmers in rural areas…We must give hope and turn agriculture into a business.” AFDB President Adesina

Discussion Topics and Highlights included:

Relationships among conservation, trade, and agricultural productivity in Latin America;
Roles of dairy in encouraging global economic development;
A global snapshot of fertilizer use and impact around the globe;
Biotech research and knowledge transfer in specialty crops;
Securing Africa’s farming future by fostering young African farmers;
New methods for climate-proofing smallholder farms in Sub-Saharan Africa;
The transformation of Eurasian and Russian agriculture from famine to feast.

Extracts of the programme

18 October. Launch of the Global Panel’s New Policy

Brief

Urban diets and nutrition: trends, challenges, and opportunities for policy action.

The brief looks at the challenge of providing healthy diets in urban environments in low- and middle-income countries, presenting eight recommendations directed primarily at policymakers especially those working at the sub-national level.

H.E. Akinwumi Adesina – President, African Development Bank
Sandy Thomas – Director, Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition
Emmy Simmons – Co-Chair, Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa/Asia
Tom Arnold – Former Director General, Institute of International and European Affairs
Agnes Kalibata – President, The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), @Agnes_Kalibata, @agraalliance

The brief gives particular focus to the growing threat of diet-related non-communicable disease. The greater wealth in urban centres, relative to rural areas, does not necessarily lead to healthier diets, with excessive consumption of highly-processed foods that are high in calories but low in nutrients.

The eight recommendations in the brief call for a wider policy approach which integrates actions from food, agriculture and nutrition into urban planning, education, health, sanitation, water and infrastructure development. It will also require a shift in attitudes towards the informal food sector and the collection of better data on urban diets.

The brief shows how policymakers at the local level need to champion better diets and nutrition, but this requires them to be both mandated and empowered to act
Downloads

Urbanization policy brief summary 1.9 MB

Urbanization policy brief

18 October. Making Farming Cool: Investing in Future African Farmers and Agripreneurs

Hosted by: African Development Bank, Initiative for Global Development, Association of African Agricultural Professionals in the Diaspora, Michigan State University, Iowa State University and International Institute for Tropical Agriculture.

18 October. Transformation of African Savannah Initiative Launch

Hosted by: African Development Bank

18 October. The Changing Environment of Effective Partnerships between African and International Organizations in Support of Agricultural Transformation

Hosted by: Alliance for African Partnership/ Michigan State University

18 October. African Development Bank and Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition: Public Reception
Hosted by: African Development Bank and Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition

19 October. Securing Africa’s Farming Future – Where Are the Youth?

Lindiwe Majele Sibanda – Vice President for Country Support, Policy, and Delivery, The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
Mercy Lung’aho – Research Scientist, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
Ariong Moses – Project Specialist, One Acre Fund – Uganda
Salif Niang – Co-founder, Malo SARL
Sithembile Mwamakamba – Senior Programme Manager, FANRPAN
Emma Naluyima – Farmer and Private Veterinarian

19 October. African Development Bank Announcement | Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT)

H.E. Akinwumi Adesina – President, African Development Bank
Jennifer Blanke – Vice-President, Agriculture, Human and Social Development, African Development Bank
Agnes Kalibata – President, The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), @Agnes_Kalibata, @agraalliance
Rajiv Shah – President, The Rockefeller Foundation, @rajshah, @RockefellerFdn
Nick Austin – Director of Agricultural Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Haleh Bridi – Director for External Communications in the Africa Region, World Bank

19 October. European-African Collaboration on Food Security: Voices from the G-20, German Marshal Fund for Africa, and the Malabo Montpellier Panel.

Joachim von Braun – President, Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Professor, Director of Center for Development Research (ZAF), Bonn University, @joachimvonbraun
Ousmane Badiane – Africa Director, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Gebisa Ejeta – 2009 World Food Prize Laureate, @PurdueAg, @PurdueAgronomy
Nachilala Nkombo – Interim Africa Executive Director, ONE Campaign
Stefan Schmitz – Deputy Director-General and Commissioner for the “One World – No Hunger” Initiative

19 October. Fall Army Worm: a Clear and Present Danger to African Food Security
Hosted by: Dr. Pedro Sanchez

19 October. Going from Science to Scale – Commercializing Aflasafe™ in 11 African Countries
Hosted by: Chemonics International

Eric Reading, Executive Vice President, Chemonics International
Abdou Konlambigue, Managing Director ATTC, IITA
Mario Kerby, Director, Chemonics
Orin Hasson, Senior Program Officer, The Gates Foundation
Angela Hansen, Advisor, Dalberg Global Development Advisors
Kenton Dashiell, Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery, IITA

19 October. An Exploration Into Food/Cash Crop Alternatives to Tobacco in Africa

Hosted by: Foundation for A Smoke-Free World

19 October. State of Food and Agriculture 2017: Empowering Rural Communities in Pursuit of Zero Hunger

Hosted by: Alliance to End Hunger and The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations

20 October. Dance of the Lions and Dragons: How are Africa and China Engaging, and How Will the Partnership Evolve?

Sunil Sanghvi – Senior Partner, McKinsey and Company
Irene Sun – Engagement Manager, McKinsey and Company

20 October. The African Fertilizer Summit – 10 Years Later

H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo – Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
H.E. Josefa Leonel Correa Sacko – Commissioner for the Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union Commission, @_AfricanUnion, @AUC_CAADP
Charlotte Hebebrand – Director General, International Fertilizer Industry Association
Richard Mkandawire – Director, Alliance for African Partnership/MSU
Mustafa El Ouafi – Managing Director, OCP Group
Benjamin Pratt – Vice President of Corporate Public Affairs, The Mosaic Company

2017 Laureate
DR. AKINWUMI AYODEJI ADESINA, the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), was recognized as the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate. Through his roles over the past two decades with the Rockefeller Foundation, at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and as Minister of Agriculture of Nigeria, Dr. Adesina has been at the forefront of galvanizing political will to transform African agriculture through initiatives to: expand agricultural production, thwart corruption in the Nigerian fertilizer industry and exponentially increase the availability of credit for smallholder farmers across the African continent.

Source: PAEPARD FEED

2017 Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium

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