WEBINAR: The Contribution of research and innovation in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 in Africa’s agriculture and food system

20th May 2020
by secretary

Paepard

20 May 2020. WEBINAR: The Contribution of research and innovation in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 in Africa’s agriculture and food system. 3 pm CEST/CAT.

Organized by CAADP ex Pillar IV Institutions* and hosted by FARA, this webinar is the first in a series of e-forums the CAADP ex Pillar IV institutions to consult and sensitize stakeholders about the contribution of research and innovation in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 in Africa’s agriculture and food system.

Recording forthcoming

The regional institutions mandated to champion the application of STI in Africa’s agriculture and food systems, namely FARA and AFAAS at continental level and ASARECA, CCARDESA, CORAF and NAASRO, at sub-regional level are leading the development of an inclusive strategy on deployment of STI to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the continent’s agriculture and food system. This strategy is conceived to be integral to sector-wide strategies and interventions formulated by the African Union Commission (including the 16 April 2020 resolution of AU ministers of Agriculture), African Union Development Agency, Regional Economic Communities, national Governments and Development Partners.

COVID-19 impacts (short. medium and long-term) whose solutions are principally rooted in research and innovation;
Identification of the priority interventions to be undertaken by Africa’s research and innovation system; and
Next steps in advancing from concept to action.

Background document:

Contribution of Agricultural Research and Innovation in Mitigating the Effects of COVID-19 in Africa. A CAADP XP4 Issues Paper for regional and continental eFORUM (May 2020, 11 pages)

“An obvious impact of the pandemic is that it has the potential to distract stakeholders from addressing pre-existing threats, such as climate change and change in ecological dynamics. With countries manage focusing all the attention the crisis, they are bound to be diverted from long-term strategic goals such as CAADP and the SDGs. This may cascade into unintended negligence of clear and existing threats to food and nutrition security.” (page 8)

“While COVID19 is not an agricultural pandemic, it involves the humans within the agricultural system, which is not a traditional scenario of disaster preparedness in the agricultural sector.” (page 9)

“Multi-disciplinary teams that link analysis of climate change impacts on agriculture should enable early warning and foresight towards appropriate policy interventions.” (page 9)

Source: PAEPARD FEED

WEBINAR: The Contribution of research and innovation in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 in Africa’s agriculture and food system

Recording forthcoming

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