Africa urged to make research,innovation the cornerstone of food systems transformation

Business a.m

African countries need to accelerate the adoption of climate adaptation technologies and practices in agriculture in order to protect their economies from the increasingly severe impacts of climate change, according to 2023 Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS).

The report finds that climate-smart agricultural practices can mitigate the negative economic impacts of climate change, if scaled up and implemented properly, considering that extreme weather and climate shocks are major contributors to food insecurity in the continent.

The ReSAKSS report emphasises the importance of data in transforming African food systems, and highlights the need to improve data collection and analysis to inform evidence-based policymaking.It also calls for increased investment in science and technology to develop innovative solutions for improving food systems. Additionally, the report identifies the need for better coordination between different sectors, including agriculture, health, nutrition, and water and sanitation, in order to create an enabling environment for food systems transformation.

Stressing the need for urgent action to improve food safety in Africa, despite some progress made in recent years, the report called on African governments to accelerate the establishment of an Africa Food Safety Agency by the African Union Commission, and to implement already-established food safety strategies. Furthermore, the report calls for the development of robust data gathering systems and the adoption of innovative technologies to improve food safety.

One of the key takeaways from the report is the need for African governments to take concrete steps to fill data gaps, which are hindering their ability to transform food systems. The report identifies gender-disaggregated data as one of the key gaps, as well as differences in the quality of data across national databases.

According to the report, African governments should take a number of steps to address these gaps, including strengthening national data systems, promoting South-South and triangular cooperation on data collection and analysis, and increasing capacity-building opportunities for data collectors and analysts.

The ReSAKSS report outlined several ways African governments can overcome the barriers that prevent them from effectively collecting and managing food system data. One of the most important steps is to increase funding for data gathering and management, as well as capacity-building opportunities for those who collect and analyze data. Additionally, the report calls for greater coordination between data users and suppliers in order to streamline the data collection process and improve the quality of data.

Ousmane Badiane, executive chairperson of AKADEMIYA2063, acknowledged the progress made since the establishment of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) in 2003, but also highlighted the new and persistent challenges facing Africa’s food systems. He noted that the post-Malabo agenda for CAADP must address these challenges, including climate change and other stressors, in order to achieve sustainable food systems transformation.

“It is our hope that the 2023 ATOR will contribute to the development of a robust post-Malabo agenda which will provide a framework for sustainable food systems transformation for years to come,” he said.

According to John Ulimwengu, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and co-editor of the 2023 ATOR, African countries will need to address data gaps as they work to transform their food systems in the face of growing climate challenges.

“Greater coordination across various data streams, coupled with the development of common indicators, is envisioned as the cornerstone for this transformation. This holistic approach will not only illuminate priority areas for policy and funding but also catalyze progress towards CAADP/Malabo goals,” Ulimwengu stated.

Josefa Sacko, commissioner, department of agriculture, rural development, blue economy, and sustainable environment, African Union Commission, remarked that some progress has been made in implementing the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), but stressed that more needs to be done to achieve the goals set out in the Malabo Declaration.

Sacko stated that the next phase of CAADP must learn from the successes of the previous phases and build on them in order to accelerate progress toward Africa’s development goals. He stressed the importance of quality data in policymaking and called for increased efforts to collect and analyze data to inform decision-making.