On “Wednesday”, April 27, the activities of the Second African Agricultural Conference, under the title “Sustaining African Food Security”, were organized by the Egyptian-African Businessmen Association, headed by Dr Yousrey Elsharkawi, and were moderated by Mr. Daniel Mochwan, representative of the Association in South Africa.
The event was attended by a group of specialized experts from different countries of the continent, including Professor Mohamed Adel Al-Ghandour, Chairman of the Agriculture Committee of the Society, and Dr. Islam Al-Fadhili, an agricultural specialist at the Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (FAO).
The conference was attended by Dr. Solomon Ramabo, President of the Faculty of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Botswana for Agricultural Sciences, and Mr. Marcel Prosper Pack, CEO of PHYTEL CONSULTING and former Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Cameroon, and Mr. Kakel Mbomb, a fundraiser and strategist in the National Union For young entrepreneurs in Congo in the agribusiness sector.
Also participating in the conference were Ms. Josephine Favre, President of the African Vertical Association – Switzerland, and Ms. Zandel Kumalo, founder of HyHarvest (Pty) Ltd and co-founder of Neighbor Roots (Pty) Ltd – South Africa.
The conference discussed a number of scientific research and papers related to agriculture, food security and safety, plant and animal health, and ways to enhance vital agriculture, as well as visions, prospects, and projects for agricultural tourism, qualifying young people to work in agriculture and benefiting from the resources of the Nile Basin countries in the production of agricultural crops.
A large number of speakers specialized in the field of agriculture from all African countries spoke during the African Food Security Sustainability Conference, providing diverse visions of the latest developments in African agriculture, and best practices in the fields of agriculture and food security.
The conference included several objectives, including building agricultural and economic relations across the continent, presenting successful investment experiences in the field of modern African agriculture, raising awareness about sustainable agriculture and African food security, identifying and attracting potential foreign investors in the agricultural sector, and supporting security rates in light of the current challenges.
During his opening speech, Mr. Daniel Mochwan reviewed the prospects and opportunities for developing the agricultural sector and stressed the importance of partnerships and cooperation to achieve sustainable food security in Africa. He also stressed the importance of increasing the volume of intra-regional trade between the countries of the continent, and that this had an important role in the sustainability of food security.
Dr. Yousrey Elsharkawi, President of the Egyptian-African Businessmen Association, expressed his happiness at the association’s hosting of a distinguished elite of decision-makers, researchers and academics specialized in the field of agriculture, stressing that the outcomes of the conference will have an effective role in the development of African agriculture and the sustainability of food security in the region.
He stressed that shedding light on the experiences of African agriculture, and the dynamic agriculture on the continent, helps to meet the challenges of the basic agricultural sector and contributes to meeting the requirements for increasing production, improving the quality of animal and agricultural production, and solving food security problems on the continent.
Professor Mohamed Adel Al-Ghandour, Chairman of the Society’s Agriculture Committee, opened the presentations on the topic “Nanotechnology in Agriculture”, and that technology focuses on a variety of fields, including agriculture, biology, waste, textiles, food, engineering, and stressed the value of technological progress in agriculture, stressing, however, reviewing the technological experiences in agriculture, allows us to raise the level of the agricultural sector in all its axes in the brown continent.
Dr. Islam Al-Fadhli shared an interesting presentation on the “United Nations Decade of Family Farming”, which is currently being implemented in the Near East and North Africa region, and is gradually being rolled out to other countries, and emphasized that the Gambia is at the top of the list of African countries that have implemented this project.
During the conference, all speakers shared highly successful business models that are not only influential in their fields, but also scalable and sustainable.
Ms. Zandile Kumalo was one of the main speakers on the topic, presenting her experience creating hydroponic farms on the rooftops of shopping malls and supplying restaurants with fresh vegetables daily, and presenters discussed opportunities to use food as medicine.
The participants valued the role of the African Vertical Farming Association, which provides sustainable food security, especially in urban areas, where people struggle to cultivate land to produce food. The Association also allows the exchange of economic and agricultural ideas and experiences for the benefit of the continent.
Elsharkawiconcluded the conference, stressing the need to address the challenges facing the agricultural sector, and to take advantage of modern tools; To ensure food security, improve agricultural crop productivity, consider policy synergies and change food patterns in Africa, he stressed the openness of the Egyptian African Businessmen Association to work with all agricultural entrepreneurs and provide the support they need to expand their businesses.