The 5th International Conference of AAAE will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 23 – 26 September 2016 under the theme “Transforming Smallholder Agriculture in Africa: The Role of Policy and Governance”. The choice of theme has been motivated by the fact that the renewed efforts by most African governments in recent times to commit to supporting agriculture in order to reduce poverty and increase wealth among smallholder farmers are being hindered by a number of challenges not least how effectively to implement sound evidence-based policy reforms within vibrant complex political economies. African governments are aware of the evidence suggesting that GDP growth originating in agriculture is about four times more effective in reducing poverty than GDP growth of other sectors hence their efforts to forge agricultural transformation.
The conference will attract the participation of agricultural economists from academia, industry, government, non-governmental organizations, and the farming communities. These are people who drive policy prescriptions and implementation in their various countries. Many of the African countries to be represented at this conference subscribe to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), whose overall goal is to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agricultural transformation. The countries, in their development blueprints have adopted the four CAADP pillars which include extending the area under sustainable land management, improving rural infrastructure and trade-related capacities for market access, increasing food supply and reducing hunger, and increasing spending on agricultural research, technology dissemination and adoption.
The conference is expected to attract about 450 – 500 delegates from around the world.
Future-Sat Africa is Extensia’s inaugural satellite summit in partnership with the Global VSAT Forum. Future-Sat Africa 2016 will focus on satellite playing an essential role in Africa’s future digital communications strategy and how it integrates with the continent’s wider communications mix.
Attendees will include Policy Makers, Regulators and Major ICT End Users from the Military, Oil and Gas, Education, Telecoms and other sectors, across Africa together with a select number of Satellite and Wireless service and infrastructure solution providers, brokers, vendors, consultants and investors who can support key business requirements.
The theme for the 2016 African Economic Conference (AEC) is “Feeding Africa: Towards Agro-Allied Industrialization for Inclusive Growth”. This theme is timely and in line with the current African and international development agenda. Ending poverty and overcoming hunger and food insecurity permanently come first and second, respectively, in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) endorsed in September 2015 by UN member States. This commitment is also stressed by the African Union Agenda 2063 that recognizes the right of all Africans to be well-nourished and lead healthy and productive lives. Furthermore, the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP), as well as the June 2014 Malabo declaration, highlight that a structural transformation of African agriculture is central to growth and poverty eradication on the continent. Consistent with these goals, agriculture and industrialization are at the heart of the work by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and their vision and long-term strategy for a prospered and inclusive Africa.
The course aims at providing training on agricultural policy with a view to strengthening and/or renewing the knowledge and capacity of African policy makers, including senior managers, negotiators, advisors, planners and analysts, to meet the core challenges of growing the agricultural sector as a central engine of national economic development and social policy. In doing so, the course will expose participants not only to the current state of knowledge and the comparative lessons which are available to Africa, but also some of the best practices that serve as pertinent examples of how an integrated and comprehensive agricultural policy regime has been used to promote economic transformation and social well-being.
The course will serve the policy concerns which most African governments share of, among other things, improving agricultural output and productivity, nurturing the linkages between agriculture and other economic sectors, increasing national food security, combating poverty, expanding employment, promoting environmental sustainability, and enhancing sustainable rural livelihoods, including gender equality. These are concerns that have also been embraced by the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and NEPAD.
The second Conference on Land Policy in Africa will be hosted by the Land Policy Initiative (LPI) which is a joint initiative of the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the African Development Bank. The Conference is a policy and learning event whose goal is to deepen capacity for land policy in Africa through improved access to knowledge and information on land policy development and implementation. This Conference follows an inaugural Conference held in November 2014 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that was attended by close to 400 participants.
The Conference of November 2017, dubbed CLPA-2017, will be held under the theme: “The Africa We Want: Achieving socioeconomic transformation through inclusive and equitable access to land by the youth.” This theme supports the declaration of 2017 by the African Union as the Year of Youth under the theme “Harnessing Africa’s Demographic Dividend through Investment in youth”. The format of the Conference will include plenary and parallel sessions, side events, exhibitions, and the use of social media to reach a broader audience, including youth.