50x2030 Seminar “Transforming Food Systems in Africa”: Recap and resources

On 30 September, 50x2030 hosted “Transforming Food Systems in Africa: Resilience through Agricultural Data," the next in its new seminar series that highlights learning and tools emerging from activities under the Initiative. For this seminar, 50x2030 welcomed partner Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) to share insights on data gaps gleaned from their work supporting African countries in the Third Biennial Review (BR) of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

Managers of 50x2030 Initiative components on data production and data use in turn provided examples of how 50x2030 survey instruments produce critical agricultural data, and how they could be leveraged in the CAADP process and in other frameworks in 50x2030 partner countries. More than 100 people participated in the exploration of how agricultural data can inform transformational food systems in Africa to make them more equitable, resilient, nutritious, productive, climate smart, inclusive and safe.

Presenters from ReSAKSS and AKADEMIYA2063, its parent organization included Anatole Goundan, Senior Associate Scientist, AKADEMIYA2062; Dr. Greenwell Matchaya, ReSAKSS Coordinator for Southern Africa; and Dr. John Ulimwengu, ReSAKSS Africawide Coordinator. They spoke to a range of issues, including:

Agricultural survey data, constraints, and how African countries can sustain effective agricultural and rural data systems
CAADP Biennial Review data challenges and gaps and ReSAKSS’ efforts to improve data quality and fill data gaps
Mapping CAADP Biennial Review data using the UN Food Systems Summit framework.

For their part, 50x2030 component managers, Chiara Brunelli and Michael Steiner, spoke to:

How 50x2030 is supporting partner countries in monitoring the CAADP indicators generating data that are relevant for the agricultural sector and that be collected through farm-based surveys
The importance of agricultural data quality and methods of collection in addition to availability
How agricultural and rural data is used for decision-making in the agricultural sector.

The session was concluded by reflections from Dr. Simplice Nouala, Head, Division of Agriculture and Food Security, Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union Commission on strengthening governance for improved agricultural statistical systems in Africa.

To watch the full session, see here.

To review the PPT presentation, see here.