Towards new partnerships to transform food systems

The French Development Agency supports public investment to create favorable conditions for a productive, inclusive and resilient agriculture, respectful of the planet. The Group’s financing primarily targets the most vulnerable populations in economic, social and environmental terms. The Group thus supports family farming that creates jobs and added value in rural areas. AFD Group is also firmly committed to promoting the agroecological transition, considering that achieving food sovereignty will require the intensification of production in an ecological manner, adopting as much as possible agro-ecological practices.

To do this, AFD group favors a partnership approach with all public and private actors in the sector by seeking to mobilize funding, citizens as well as expertise and knowledge for the transformation of food systems. 

The French Academy of Agriculture (AAF) and its African associate members wish to advocate for a renewal of partnerships between Africa, Europe and France for the transformation of food systems. These partnerships, in order to respond to the interests of each party in a balanced way, should (i) be based on the recognition of the reciprocal interdependencies between the African, French and European food systems; (ii) highlight the importance of regional economic communities and major regional projects, and (iii) recognize the opportunity for forward thinking, at different time scales, on the future of agriculture and, more broadly, food systems and living and employment conditions in rural areas in Africa and Europe. This exchange with AFD and its partners is part of the process of drawing up the advocacy document that AAF will bring to the attention of African, French and European decision-makers in the first half of 2025.

This event will allow AFD and the Agency’s partners to present their visions and feedback on the partnership between Africa, France and Europe on food systems in order to strengthen its relevance and content in terms of sustainability. This dialogue will deal successively with the strategic dimensions of the partnership, and with concrete testimonies from African actors of this partnership. It will give the floor to key players in food systems, from both the public and private sectors, to reflect on the new areas and forms of partnership that could be developed, in light of the interdependencies between African and European food systems.

What are the modalities of intervention and the prospects for partnership between Africa, France and Europe to transform food systems in a sustainable way?

Program:



14:00 : Welcome speech



14:05 : Introductory sequence



14:45 – 16:00 : Round table “The partnership approach in light of interdependencies between the African, French and European food systems”



16:00 – 17:15 : Panel discussion on “Feedback from experiences on concrete partnership modalities in the field of food systems”



17:15 – 17:30 : Perspectives for sustainable food systems in Africa



17:30 – 17:45 : Conclusion



18:00 : Cocktail