Under the Long-term EU-AU Research and Innovation Partnership for Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (LEAP4FNSSA) project, IITA hosted agrifood experts from 13 organizations from Africa and Europe to discuss two recently conducted studies to understand the impact of trade, innovation, and entrepreneurship for improved food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture (FNSSA). The expert workshop, facilitated and hosted by IITA Ghana, took place on 13 September.
The experts and other key stakeholders discussed the findings from a study on agrifood trade between Europe and Africa. They also reviewed another research on innovation and entrepreneurship with particular reference to gender and youth led by IITA Sahel Africa Hub Director Abdoulaye Tahirou. The authors of both studies and four invited experts discussed the findings of the studies and their implications for improved FNSSA. IITA Consultant Dr Mastawel Yami presented the IITA-led study report.
Thirty-six stakeholders attended the hybrid workshop, with 29 participating on location and seven virtual participants. IITA’s Young Africa Works Executive Manager Aline Mugisho and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager Oyewale Abioye led the physical facilitation of the workshop while Head of IITA Capacity Development Office, Zaina Sore, led the hybrid version.
After a presentation of each study, the experts deliberated on the findings, followed by a general discussion among participants. In the afternoon, the expert workshop facilitated a discussion to enrich the recommendations (based on the studies’ findings and the feedback) for strengthening the foundations of the Africa-Europe International Research Consortium Platform (IRC).
At the end of the event, the participants agreed on the need to develop evidence-based pathways for policy, engage with financial institutions, and map the performance of earlier projects to take advantage of previous experiences. Since the LEAP4FNSSA project was coming to an end, leading to the establishment of a bicontinental platform named the International Research Consortium (IRC), the primary recommendation for the IRC was to connect different levels of scale and consider local contexts and comparative advantages of specific countries and specific crops. They also recommended investing in a transformative gender and youth approach that would enhance the inclusion and capacities of women and youth in research and innovation.
Contributed by Oyewale Abioye
Contribué par
Recent stories