RUFORUM Statement on the UN Food Systems Summit Dialogues and Africa Common Position
Emerging issues presented to the AUC Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment Specialized Technical Committee
15th July 2021
Africa’s food systems:
The COVID-19 pandemic was a wakeup call to the glaring fragility and inequalities of the global, regional and national agri-food systems, making the resolve for sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems extremely urgent. In line with the agricultural priorities of the Africa Union under CAADP and the global frameworks towards the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) has organized several institutional, regional, and continental Independent Dialogues. The Dialogues attracted African Ministers, Government technocrats and other policy makers at national, regional, continental and international levels, academics, researchers, students and small holder farmers. The climax of the dialogues was the African Heads of State Summit1 hosted by His Excellency Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, the President of the Republic of Malawi.
The dialogues have re-awakened the available development focus opportunities at different levels, and call for partnerships, and a deliberate effort for investment in home grown institutions to provide local solutions with more appropriate application to local contexts. The key messages are:
Strategic science solutions for productivity growth needed: The global agri-food systems are for the foreseable future integrated. And, Africa with 60% of the remaining arable land for production is central to the global agrifood systems. Yet Africa’s agriculture, especially of Sub-Saharan Africa, is yet to realize full production potential to feed itself, while contributing to the global food systems. Green revolution solutions (fertilizers, improved breed/varieties, irrigation, mechanisation etc), that are tapered with sustainability innovations are needed to unlock productivity. These science solutions must however be contexualized to Africa’s producer needs and have capacity to increase the ‘bottom line’ for small holder farmers. Africa’s agricultural research is therefore a central cog in the African Agri-food systems revitalization tool box. This if coupled with policies that harness production competitive advantage, and expand and improve markets access by eliminating trade and non-trade barriers, can support agri-food systems transformation for the present and future posterity of Africa.
Improving the labour productivity. Africa’s agriculture sector employs up to 60% of its workforce. The vast majority of these workers are rural small holder farmers, typically with low labour productivity. While Africa is rapidly urbanising, and inadvertently reallocating labor from farming to higher-productive sectors, most of the labour is still interlinked to agriculture, the vast majority being youth. Skilling Africa’s youth for entry into rewarding productive subsectors of agri-food systems, therefore, must be part of the solutions for increasing demand for production, while paying for economic growth. Policy interventions with systems perspectives for increasing labour productivity, to bolster aggregate demand for Africa’s agriculture, are key for increasing, stabilizing and sustaining the continent’s agri-food systems. Robust agriculture and tertiary higher education systems are therefore foundational for the growth and sustainability of Africa’s agrifood systems.
Harness major growth drivers– Africa’s still has some of the world’s poorest economies, yet interestingly, has leapfrogged in adoption of modern digital and their associated technologies. With its diverse diets anchored on similar staples produced across different ecologies throughout the year, and coupled with sufficient natural resources, i.e., water and land, the opportunity to feed Africa and the rest of the world abounds. By harnessing digital technologies for education, agriculture, finance, business and policy planning and measurement, the AU vision of a continent wide free trade area and grounding support for Agenda 2063 will be bolstered. Africa’s digital move is thus critical for growth of the agrifood system.
Taken together, the above efforts can enable Africa build a strong agricultural sector that leverages its food market opportunity and captures a higher share of value from increased demand from rural to urban consumers.
Piggery farming in Uganda is on the rise more especially due to the ready market both within and outside the country. Just like any other business, farmers require a lot of input if they are to reap big from the business. Reproductive assistance techniques, such as Artificial Insemination (AI), have proved to be very effective in enhancing the quality of breeds leading to improved production and productivity. Implementing AI reproductive techniques allows optimizing production conditions, reducing their costs, and increasing their efficiency. With support from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Makerere University in collaboration with a number of partners, including district veterinary officers has conducted countrywide trainings in AI in a bid to increase the pool of pig artificial insemination service practitioners.
From 28th February-3rd March 2024, Makerere University in collaboration with ILRI, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF) and the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and Data Bank (NAGRC & DB) conducted a training of over 20 animal health practitioners from Central Uganda. The training held at Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute Kabanyolo (MUARIK) was organized by Dr Donald Kugonza, an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural Production, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), Makerere University, also coordinator of ILRI’s More Pork projects in Uganda.
During the five days of the training, the farmers were exposed to knowledge on a number of aspects including; i) the merits and demerits of pig artificial insemination; ii) the Uganda pig value chain- key actors, opportunities, challenges; iii) pig breeds and their characteristics- farmers preferences, straight breeding and terminal crossing, selection and culling; iv) hormonal regulation of female heat cycle, signs of heat and methods for heat detection; v) boar spray/smell, pregnancy diagnosis methods, gestation and weaning, growth and selection; vi) records management; vii) the role of NAGRC in pig breeding – Animal Breeding Act and breeds available at NAGRC stations; as well as viii) Animal Breeding Regulations. The farmers also acquired skills on semen collection, evaluation, extension, packaging, labeling and storage; reproductive diseases and management; animal hygiene; catheterization on tracts and live sows, sow stimulation, semen deposition; and biosecurity protocols. The farmers were also trained on care and maintenance of AI equipment.
Facilitators included; Dr Donald Kugonza from CAES, Makerere University (handled genetics and breeding); Dr Gerald Kirembe from AFIRD (animal health); Dr Gerald Nizeyimana from the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity, Makerere University (animal health); Dr Godfrey Bamundaga Kyobe, Wakiso District Veterinary Officer (artificial insemination in pigs); Dr. Leonard Kawuule from Vetline Services (pig technologies); Ms. Esther Nakajubi from NAGRC&DB (animal production); Mr. Robert Natumanya from the CAES, Makerere University (animal production); Mr. Eric Semwezi, private AI practitioner; Dr. Alex Mukasa from MAAIF (animal production); and Mr. Isaac Kasoro from Makerere University (pig technologies).
The training was supported through the One CGIAR initiative for Sustainable Animal Productivity for Livelihoods, Nutrition and Gender Inclusion (SAPLING), that aims to transform livestock sectors in seven countries including Uganda, through a pipeline of existing and new innovations. SAPLING is being implemented by the ILRI, International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the Alliance of Bioversity International and International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (ABC). SAPLING Uganda is geared towards improving the livelihoods of livestock producers and other actors in the pig, dairy and beef value chains. Uganda is one of focus countries for this initiative given the importance of livestock in the livelihoods of its people and the commitment of public and private actors to transform food systems through sustainable livestock development.
On behalf of the Country Director, ILRI, Mr. Ronnie Ahumuza appreciated the partners including MAAIF, NAGRC, Makerere University and district local governments for supporting the programme. Delivering a presentation on the pig value chain in Uganda, Mr. Ahumuza noted that the sector was highly neglected yet the demand for pork was on the rise. He informed participants that ILRI had piloted a number of innovations to improve the sector including interventions under the MorePork 1 and MorePork II projects that targeted diagnostic studies to identify constraints and opportunities in the pork value chains, testing of interventions to address the identified constraints, market systems development, and introduction of PigSmart Innovations (gross margin calculator, digital extension, feed calculator). The organization is currently implementing a project on Sustainable Animal Productivity for Livelihoods, Nutrition and Gender Inclusion (SAPLING) geared towards improving the livelihoods of livestock producers and other actors in the pig, dairy and beef value chains.
Explaining the mandate of his sector that mainly focuses on improving production and productivity of livestock, the Commissioner, Animal Production at MAAIF, Dr Theophilus Mwesige said piggery production was still low in country, proposing a number of interventions to boost the sector.
The meeting was graced by the Technical Manager, Breeding at NAGRC, Dr Helen Nakimbugwe and Wakiso District Veterinary Officer Dr Bamundaga Kyobe Godfrey who shared experiences on AI in livestock.
The primary objective of this training initiative is to promote knowledge exchange and learning about innovative systems, methods, tools, and best practices in nutrition surveillance.
The training
The School of Food Technology, Nutrition and Bio-systems Engineering (SFTNB), College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), Makerere University has held a four-day training for its staff and students on Integrated Food Security Phase Classification for Acute Malnutrition (IPC-AMN). The training held from 26th-29th February 2024 has been conducted at the School premises at the University.
The training initiative emerged from the collaborative efforts of the “Learning Network on Nutrition Surveillance.” The implementation of this initiative is led by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). This network, fostering connections between policymakers, research institutions, and universities, spans across the countries of Djibouti, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda.
The primary objective of this initiative is to promote knowledge exchange and learning about innovative systems, methods, tools, and best practices in nutrition surveillance. The initiative fosters knowledge exchange on innovative systems, methods, tools, and practices in nutrition surveillance, with a special emphasis on the East, Central, and Southern Africa region, and the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) for Food Security and Nutrition stands as a crucial element within this network.
FAO’s contribution
One of the key contributors to this training initiative is the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), leveraging its two decades of experience. FAO has meticulously designed face-to-face training sessions for professionals in food security and nutrition. Furthermore, they have developed a comprehensive curriculum for graduate and post-graduate students focusing on the IPC for Acute Malnutrition scale (AMN).
This AMN course is crafted to equip graduates with the essential skills for IPC, but also serve as a pathway for IPC certification, enhancing their professional credentials as they embark on their careers. Notably, a similar curriculum addressing acute food insecurity has been successfully implemented at the University of Pretoria, and has worked successfully.
As a significant stride towards expanding the reach of this valuable curriculum, FAO has played a pivotal role in training the academic staff at Makerere University (Department of Food Technology and Nutrition) on both the structure and content of the AMN course curriculum. This strategic partnership aims to facilitate the eventual incorporation of this curriculum into the institution’s offerings.
Facilitating this training was Dr Jannie Armstrong, Integrated Phase Classification’s Learning and Research Coordinator. Dr Armstrong brings a wealth of experience to the table, overseeing the academic liaison portfolio and ensuring that IPC remains informed of developments in food security and nutrition research globally. His commitment is evident through co-developing IPC training materials and contributing as a member of the Technical Development Team.
Over the past 25 years, Dr Armstrong has contributed significantly to food security policy across Asia, Africa, and Europe, working with esteemed organizations such as FAO, WFP, and others. His enduring research interest in food security policy in the Global South reflects his dedication to making a positive impact in this field.
Appreciation
“As educators, we recognize the paramount importance of preparing our students for the evolving workforce, and FAO’s initiative is a testament of our commitment to continuous improvement in teaching and learning, aligning perfectly with our objectives. We express our sincere appreciation for this collaborative effort and are confident that together, we shall rise to meet the evolving needs of our stakeholders both within and outside Uganda,” remarked Dr Hedwig Acham, Senior Lecturer, Department of Food Technology & Nutrition, Makerere University.
Sub-Saharan Africa, February 29, 2024 – A landmark collaboration between the American Oil Chemist’s Society (AOCS), Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA), the Soybean Innovation Lab (SIL), Makerere University (School of Food Technology, Nutrition and Bioengineering (SFTNB), and the National Agriculture Research Laboratory (NARL) of Uganda has culminated in a transformative oilseed processing course, enriching regional expertise and capabilities. Designed to elevate Sub-Saharan Africa’s oilseed processing industry, the course leveraged AOCS content from industry and academic members, delivering world-class expertise to a cadre of regional processors. Held over 2.5 intensive days at the NARL and Makerere University SFTNB – Food Technology and Business Incubation Center, the course welcomed a capacity-filled cohort comprising participants from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and the host country, Uganda.
Supported by the Processor-to-Processor (P2P) program, AOCS volunteers Grant Mitchell, P.E., Bruce Patsey led the facilitator team together with Dr. Robert Mugabi (Makerere University) and Dr. David Bamwirire (NARL). P2P is an initiative with AOCS, CNFA, and SIL that brings one-on-one technical expertise to SSA processors under the umbrella of USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program, implemented by CNFA in Southern Africa. The course’s impact was amplified by a preceding Training of Trainers (TOT) session, where AOCS and Ugandan facilitating teams collaborated to sustainably disseminate the latest industry technical expertise while addressing the unique challenges encountered by many Sub-Saharan African processors.
The success of the course stands as a testament to the transformative potential of collaborative initiatives in addressing critical industry challenges and driving meaningful progress across Sub-Saharan Africa.