Thinkers, political leaders and agronomists from across the continent gathered in the Rwandan capital Kigali Tuesday to launch next year’s African Green Revolution Forum. The forum is a decade-old initiative aimed at solving the unique challenges faced by Africa’s agricultural sector in the 21st century.
Issues of hunger and food security took center-stage Tuesday, when leaders from Rwanda, Ethiopia and beyond set the tone for a fresh round of regional cooperation in the realm of food production that will culminate in a summit in Kigali next September.
The forum takes its name from a period of technological transformation that swept the agricultural sectors of countries across Latin America and Southeast Asia beginning in the 1960’s. Organizers hope a similar wave of modernization can shake up the way food in Africa is produced.
Speakers at Tuesday’s event included Rwandan Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente and former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
In past years the forum has awarded cash prizes to innovative agricultural producers who have made outstanding interventions in the continent’s food systems.
Organizers say 80% of Africa’s food is currently produced by smallholders — family farmers that grow food on a sub-industrial scale.
