The AGRF Podcast

Young Rwanda farmer, Pacifique Nshimiyimana, whose family have been farming in the eastern province for many generations, discusses how solving the problem of younger generations losing interest in agriculture is the key to solving the food crisis in Africa. He emphasises how getting young people involved in agriculture should be down to the policy makers; making the job cleaner and less manual labour-focused and more technologically advanced and how the most important thing for farmers in Africa going forward is access to crop protection technologies and how farming careers could give hope the younger generation and his idea for re-branding farming in Africa. In conversation with Fiona Napier from the UN High Level Climate Champions.

Umuliza M Njiru, Rockefeller Communications Lead for the African Regional Office speaks to Roy Steiner, Senior VP Rockefeller Foundation discussing how the world has created a food system focusing on food that is actually killing us, how food systems are the number one culprit raising greenhouse gases and how we can move away from this and how governments can really understand processes to enable us to instead build a food system that is both good for us and good for the planet.  Questioning why governments subsidise sugar, refined wheat, rice and soybean instead of protective foods such as fruits and vegetables and nuts and things that can protect us from disease.

Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, Ghanaian plant geneticist, professor and founding director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), talks about his work, his route into the industry and establishing the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement - now one of the largest and most impactful centres in Africa on African crops which has turned out hundreds of PhDs in plant breeding now working in over 15 countries in Africa. On this episode we discuss whether reaching zero-hunger is a possiblity and what we are doing to try to acheive this goal. 

Gerda Verburg, UN Assistant Secretary General and Coordinator of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (SUN Movement) discusses how we can transform Africa's agriculture, the 'alarm bells' ringing for the world since Covid 19 and Russia-Ukraine, how good food systems can be the cornerstone for the implementation of sustainable development goals and current trends in food system transformation.

On this episode we talk to Shanni Srivatava, Regional Head of East Africa at UPL Ltd, and find out all about carbon farming, what its potential is across Africa and how it can best benefit smallholder farmers across the continent.

Experts from The Tony Blair Institute, Grant Merrick Head of Agriculture & Food and Liz Kirk Senior Advisor on Agriculture & Food discuss the transforming of agriculture and food systems in Africa and the challenges facing Africa's governments.

Today's discussion is on rice, the role it plays in tackling food security and stories from the Rice Race initiative. Our guests are Florent Clair, Head of Partnerships for Sustainability, Africa and Middle East UPL and Valentine Miheso, Senior Partnerships Officer, AGRA. 

This episode is a recording of the President Youth Townhall at AGRF 2021 held in Nairobi, Kenya and online with President of Kenya, H. E. Uhuru Kenyatta, spotlighting a new policy approved by the Kenyan Government with the aim of returning agricultural learning and clubs in schools.

The AGRF 2022 is on 6th-9th September Kigali Rwanda, please register at AGRF.org to attend and to play your part in the discussions.

Agnes (Aggie) Asiimwe Konde, Vice President of Program Innovation & Delivery at AGRA, and key industry figures discuss what immediate actions and steps are needed to accelerate progress and recovery towards inclusive agricultural transformation in Africa.

With:

Thom Jayne, Professor of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics at Michigan State University and Senior Advisor to the President of the African Development Bank

Lulama Ndibongo Traub, Chair of the Technical Committee Regional Network of Agricultural Policy Research Institutes

Tosin Ojo, Vice President, Sahel Group

Wandile Sihlobo, Chief Economist of Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (AGBIZ) and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics of Stellenbosch University

Ron Hartman, Director for Global Engagement, Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation of IFAD (the International Fund for Agriculture Development) shares his perspective on building a new dynamic for food systems in the global south from IFAD's unique perspective as both an international financing institution (IFI) and also a specialised agency of the United Nations. specialising in supporting the most marginalised and disadvantaged of rural people around the world.