Barbados, and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) have reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for collaboration and the promotion of food systems transformation in Africa and the Caribbean Community. This is expected to be achieved through mobilisng investments, technologies and innovations, among other interventions.
The agreement was signed in Kigali, Rwanda, on November 11, by Kerrie Symmonds, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados, Agnes Kalibata, the President of AGRA.
According to a statement issued by AGRA, the MoU also allows for partnership in knowledge and experience sharing on technology and innovative approaches. These include, but are not limited to, last mile (last destination) delivery of sustainable inputs, value chain models, digital technology and access to finance models.
It indicated that the partnership will strengthen cooperation and advocacy in areas of common interest in food systems and climate change adaptation between relevant stakeholders in Barbados and Africa.
Additionally, the MoU seeks to promote the mobilisation of public and private investments for food systems transformation.
AGRA and the Government of Barbados will work together to develop solutions for increased public and private investments in food systems transformation and the development of innovative finance mechanisms.
Agnes Kalibata, AGRA President, said: "With this MoU, we see an opportunity to advance our South to South partnership to include Island States. We will focus on a unified fight against climate change, [and] support functional food systems that advance the role of trade in feeding the world while minimising its negative impacts on health and nutrition.”
"Furthermore we see an opportunity to continue advancing partnerships that promote skills and expertise on both sides. The MoU is an opportunity for the Government of Barbados to connect to all 15 countries AGRA is working with across the continent, and to connect with the wider continent through AGRF. We are excited about this partnership with the Caricom countries with Barbados as our first direct engagement,” she remarked.
AGRA shall facilitate exchange of experiences and knowledge between Barbados and African countries where best practices exist, and vice-versa.
Barbados' Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kerrie Symmonds, said "Today we have made a major step towards improving the food systems in our two regions. The reality is that many African countries share similarities with Barbados, and through this partnership with AGRA, we can now work together to draw on our shared heritage and identifying areas of common interest for knowledge and experience sharing, and advocacy in global and regional platforms to strengthen investments in agri-food systems.”
The development is announced while agriculture in most African countries is still dominated by small-scale, low-technology, and rain-fed farming, which pauses a major threat to the continent’s food system, according to the 2022 Africa Agriculture Status Report by AGRA, published in September this year.
This situation, the report indicated, leaves subsistence farmers and food production systems highly vulnerable to climate change, market, and other shocks.
Africa is the region with the highest hunger prevalence in the world, with 278 million of its people – or 20.2 percent of its population or one in every five people – being hungry in 2021, according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022 by FAO.
This rate is more than double the global average where 9.8 per cent of people were undernourished last year.
Yet, Africa has a target to end hunger by 2025, under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).