Econet boss among billionaires expected as Kenya hosts agriculture conference

Agriculture CS Willy BeTt (Second Left), Dr Dominique Charron, Director, Agriculture and Environment, International Development Research Centre (IDRC)-(Left), Melissa Wood, General Manager, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (Second Right) and Dr Agnes Kalibata, President, Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) at the ongoing African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF)

NAIROBI: Econet founder Strive Masiyiwa and philanthropist David Rockefeller are among the billionaires expected in the country this week.

They will be attending the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), the fourth-largest conference Kenya has hosted.

Mr Masiyiwa is one of Zimbabwe’s richest men, with Econet, a global telecommunications group, having operations and investments in more than 15 countries. His business interests also include renewable energy, financial services, media and hospitality.

Economic growth

“There is unprecedented agreement here in Kenya and across Africa that big investments in agriculture are the key to food security and strong economic growth,” said President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is hosting the forum.

“We need to capitalise on this consensus – particularly with drought exposing long-standing vulnerabilities in food production, and crushing commodity prices demanding sustainable economic strategies that agriculture clearly can provide.”

Other African heads of state expected at the forum that seeks to assess the challenges facing the agriculture sector, and how to tackle them include Rwanda President Paul Kagame and Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama.

Former Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete and former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo are also expected to address the meeting.

However, at a media briefing yesterday, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett declined to give details on the high-profile delegates’ visit, and who the other presidents and dignitaries expected at the five-day forum that will be hosted at the United Nations Complex in Nairobi are.

The conference follows on the heels of the Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development (TICAD), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference, which have raised Kenya’s profile as a conference tourism hub in the region.

The Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which will send a representative, are expected to endorse the green revolution campaign, and continue their support of efforts to boost production and income for smallholder farmers and local agriculture businesses.

Mr Bett said the forum would be used as a checkpoint on how successful previous commitments have been, and the way forward in turning around agriculture in the continent.

“We will relook at the issue of agriculture in Africa and how we mechanise agriculture. We must move away from direct human labour and also find ways of bringing the youth on board,” he said.

Tangible outcomes

The forum will also come under pressure to show tangible outcomes and prove it is not just another talk shop, especially since agriculture is a political issue in many developing countries.

“We are committed to pushing through the policy and financial reforms that can make farming and other agriculture businesses an economically and environmentally sustainable way of life.”

The forum is expected to draw more than 1,500 officials from over 40 countries to share their expertise, advance policies and secure investments in agriculture that will move the sector across Africa forward.

“We are also looking at achieving clearer political commitments from this meeting,” Agnes Kalibata, the president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, said.

In line with the conference’s theme, ‘Seize the moment’, leaders and policy makers have promised to deliver millions of dollars in new investments for farmers and agricultural businesses.

The theme is also the name of an ambitious Africa-wide agriculture campaign launched by the Africa Union Commission, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), the African Development Bank and key NGOs and donors.

The AGRF will include sessions on sustainable intensification of maize, human capacity development, science and innovation to transform agriculture, as well as the inaugural Africa food prize award. Also on the programme is a discussion on the potato value chain, financing agriculture, as well as managing soils.