Ahead of the AGRF 2020 Summit, managing director Debisi Araba talks to us about the challenges and opportunities facing Africa’s agricultural sector

Amid the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, Debisi Araba, presses the positive case for the future of African agriculture. “There is no reason why we can’t be self-sufficient and able to feed the world,” he says at the end of our hour-long conversation.

But throughout the conversation he also emphasises that the “transformation journey” will not take place overnight and will rely on cooperation between government and the private sector. A process that is “public-sector enabled and private-sector led” is his formula for success.

It was in May that Debisi took up his post as managing director of AGRF, the forum that brings together the major stakeholders in Africa’s agricultural landscape every year. But despite his young age, Araba has been at the forefront of African agriculture for many years. A senior adviser in 2015 to the former minister of agriculture of Nigeria, Akinwumi Adesina, the current president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Araba also served as regional director for Africa at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, which aims to bring an evidence-based approach to decision making around agriculture.

The question on everybody’s mind is the impact Covid-19 has had on African agriculture. UN agencies have predicted a global food emergency due to border restrictions, slowing harvests and a loss of income for farmers. Globally, markets have so far proven resilient with stocks of most staple foods adequate. The worry is that unless sustainable action is taken, food shortages, disrupted supply chains, lower production and rising prices could emerge. Coupled with the locust invasion in East Africa and the continuing challenge of climate change, the African continent is far from immune to collateral damage from Covid-19.
The 2020 AGRF summit

The theme of the 2020 AGRF Summit, “Feed the Cities, Grow the Continent”, was chosen last November, long before the pandemic struck. But it is prescient, says Araba, with urban centres particularly vulnerable to shocks.

“We need to have an honest conversation on agri­culture and food, what we grow, how we process it, what we consume and in what quantities,” he says. “We need to understand what future we want and how Africa can play a greater role in global food production and do so in a more sustainable and cohesive manner.”

This year’s gathering will take place online from 8-11 September and will be centred around four broad issues:

Resilience: investing in enterprises and innovations to build a sustainable and inclusive future
Markets and trade: building inter-connected African markets to create opportunities across the supply chain
Nutritious food: creating markets for African products that fuel diverse, healthy diets
Food systems: looking at the whole agricultural ecosystem to ensure Africa is producing the right foods in a sustainable manner.

High-level dignitaries and private-sector experts will debate the questions and registered delegates will be able to pose questions to speakers via integrated chat functions, as well as via social media.

The summit will provide a platform for Africa to sort out its priorities ahead of the UN Food Systems Conference taking place in 2021.

“AGRF is the confluence of the ideas, energy and drive of the agriculture and food sector in Africa,” says Araba. “My message to the general public is that people are working day and night to ensure our food systems thrive. To government, we need to work even harder but we can lean on each other for support and knowledge. And to the private sector, it is through their ingenuity and persistence that economies thrive, but they need to make their voices heard by the public sector. Private enterprise does not thrive in silence.”

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