In line with the prevailing food insecurity in Africa, the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) is hosting a five-day conference to address challenges facing the continent’s agricultural sector.

Dubbed; “The African Conference on Agricultural Technologies (ACAT)”, the event which is the maiden edition, is set to bring together key stakeholders in the agricultural sector to foster discussions on the future of agricultural innovation and food security in Africa.

The groundbreaking event is scheduled to take place from October 30 to November 3 in Nairobi, Kenya on the theme “Agricultural resilience through innovation”.

The event will be held every two years with a highlight on the centrality of Science, Technology, and Innovation in fostering agricultural transformation in Africa.

The event, which is being supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, and the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture & Livestock Development among others is expected to bring together researchers, scientists, farmers and investors.

The Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Mr Philip Harsama expressed excitement about the conference, noting that the conference had come at an opportune time when the continent was struggling to feed its people with climate change posing many challenges to the agricultural sector.

Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, former President of Nigeria and AATF Ambassador for Agriculture Technology in Africa, expressed support for the conference, noting that agriculture plays a pivotal role in Africa’s economic agenda, contributing significantly to employment, food security, and economic growth.

“ACAT will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to “walk the talk” and move beyond discussions about new technologies to embracing and adopting them,” the former President stated.

The AATF Executive Director, Dr. Canisius Kanangire, noted that ACAT will highlight the centrality of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in fostering agricultural transformation, especially in addressing key challenges facing African farmers.

“Often the role of STI in agriculture and especially innovative technologies has not been emphasized. ACAT is the opportunity to fully showcase and celebrate STI’s contribution towards enhancing food security and livelihoods to encourage dialogue and innovation,” Dr Kanangire said.

He added that ACAT will intensify efforts to forge partnerships with like-minded organisations working in the agriculture technology sector and provide opportunities for stakeholders to share information on new and emerging agricultural technologies.

“AATF has been at the forefront of facilitating access, development and commercialization of agricultural technologies and this conference will help to put a spotlight on the numerous game-changing innovations that have been developed and highlight opportunities to address the multiple stressors facing the sector due to population growth, climate change and other factors,” he pointed out.

Dr. Kanangire further stated that ACAT will provide a unique platform to discuss barriers to technology transfer and propose strategies for transforming existing technologies into Next Generation technologies capable of enhancing productivity and effectively addressing the challenges faced by African farmers.

AATF has dedicated itself to promoting innovative agricultural technology transfers that address farmer productivity constraints, working with partners across the continent to access 24 innovative and cutting-edge agricultural technologies worth over US$650 million spread across 24 countries and reaching 4.8 million smallholder farmers with new interventions during the last five years.

BY BENEDICTA GYIMAAH FOLLEY