Buhari, UNDP, AfDB, 300 others meet in Abuja to tackle hunger in Africa

As part of efforts geared towards sharing ideas on how to end hunger and ensure food security in Africa, President Muhammadu Buhari will on today declare open the 11th African Economic Conference (AEC)
The three-day event co-organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), which has as its theme: “Feed Africa: Towards Agro-Allied Industrialization for Inclusive Growth,” will attract researchers, policy-makers and development partners in attendance.
According to a statement issued by UNDP, the theme which is timely and in line with the current African and international development agenda, is in line with first and second goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are: “Ending poverty and overcoming hunger and food insecurity permanently.”
Participants at the AEC will be challenged to investigate the situation in which, despite overall macroeconomic growth and improved broad governance across the continent, Africa still has the highest rates of poverty and hunger in the world.
“No fewer than 230 million of the 795 million people suffering from chronic under-nourishment globally live in Africa, resulting in the highest prevalence of under-nourishment worldwide,” the statement noted.
According to UNDP, the meeting will be officially opened by Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina; Acting ECA Executive Secretary, Abdalla Hamdok; UN Assistant Secretary General and Director of UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa, Abdoulaye Mar Dieye.
UNDP further stated that the theme of the conference also builds on the African Union Agenda 2063, which underscore the right of Africans to be well-nourished and lead healthy and productive lives.
“Furthermore, the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP), as well as the June 2014 Malabo Declaration emphasise the centrality of a structural transformation of African agriculture to growth and poverty eradication on the continent.
“In consonance with these goals, agriculture and industrialization are at the heart of the core activities of AfDB, ECA and UNDP and their vision and long-term strategy for a prosperous and inclusive Africa.”
According to the UNDP, the AEC provides a unique platform to assess these challenges and the impact of current growth strategies in Africa; focusing on the agricultural and industrial sector.
“Participants will discuss successes, lessons learned and identify remaining gaps, challenges and emerging issues on the topic. The conference will encompass in-depth presentations of policy-oriented research by both established academics and emerging researchers from the continent and beyond, who will debate and recommend policy options on how to accelerate Africa’s agricultural and industrial transformation.
“After three days of intensive deliberations and brainstorming, the Conference is expected to come up with mechanisms for a sustainable inclusive green and scale agro-industry appropriate for a continent which is home to 600 million hectares of uncultivated arable land, roughly 60 percent of the global total,” UNDP said.