Motivation
In 2004, IFPRI facilitated an all-Africa conference, bringing together more than 500 actors and stakeholders from 50 countries to deliberate on how to bring about change and action to assure food and nutrition security. The conference, held in Kampala, was cohosted by the Government of Uganda and cosponsored by the EC together with more than a dozen other organizations.
Outcomes
- The three African presidents who attended the conference—President Yoweri K. Museveni of Uganda, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, and President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal—briefed other heads of state on the outcomes of the conference. They participated in the G8 Sea Island Summit, where the G8 members commended the 2020 Africa Conference and welcomed the high priority that Africans were placing on raising agricultural productivity and promoting broad-based rural development. President Obasanjo facilitated a meeting with the ECOWAS secretary general to further mainstream conference outcomes into West African processes. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia drew attention to the 2020 Africa Conference at a Presidential seminar, “Innovative Approaches to Meeting the Hunger Millennium Development Goal in Africa,” in Addis Ababa.
- Following the 2020 Africa Conference, the Advisory Committee chair prepared a concept note and actively lobbied for an African Food and Nutrition Day to keep food and nutrition issues high on the African policy agenda. In July 2010, the African Union decided to commemorate an African Food and Nutrition Day on October 30 every year.
- The conference also had an appreciable impact on IFPRI itself, enabling the Institute to develop a more strategic and holistic approach to its Africa work, and laying the ground for the Institute to scale up its engagement in the region, which has been significant since 2004. The conference increased IFPRI’s profile across Africa, as well as IFPRI’s understanding of Africa. This is exemplified by the Institute’s support for CAADP processes; by its interactions with regional, subregional, and national organizations; and by the development and expansion of initiatives like the Country Strategy Support Programs.
- A survey of conference participants revealed that 97 percent of respondents agreed that the conference addressed important food and nutrition security issues in Africa, that 86 percent believed the conference contributed to raising awareness about the need for building effective partnerships and pursuing appropriate policy actions to achieve food and nutrition security in Africa; and that 78 percent thought the conference had enhanced dialogue among actors on their roles and responsibilities in achieving sustainable food and nutrition security in Africa.
