AGRF 2019: Africa Food Prize winner to receive $100,000

Hailemariam Desalegn – Former Ethiopian Prime Minister

The 2019 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) which comes off at the Accra International Conference Centre from September 3-6 will witness a $100,000 Africa Food Prize award to a deserving individual or organisation.

The award is to recognise the leading role that person or organisation played in shaping Africa’s agriculture agenda and changing the reality of farming from a struggle to survive to a business that thrives.

This year’s forum is under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who will be joined by current and former heads of state, eminent leaders of global and regional development institutions, as well as captains of industry from the private sector and other agriculture industry stakeholders.

A statement issued by the AGRF Secretariat on Friday said the forum will serve as a landmark opportunity for Ghana’s leaders and peers across the African Continent to mobilise billions of dollars in agribusiness investments.

Additionally, it will provide an opportunity for leaders to make policy commitments for the benefit of African agriculture.

“The AGRF 2019, together with its many follow-on activities, is designed to energise political will and advance the policies, programmes and investments required to achieve an inclusive and sustainable agricultural transformation across the continent,” it said.

It will be held under the theme: “Grow Digital: Leveraging Digital Transformation to Drive Sustainable Food Systems in Africa”.

The theme seeks to harness the power of digital technologies that had witnessed an unprecedented growth and adoption in an era of disruptive innovation, knowledge economies and big agri-data for agriculture development.

A new feature for the AGRF is the Deal Room, a transaction and deal-making platform, designed to secure new business deals and commitments between agricultural companies, financiers and ecosystem partners.

This is to provide a good opportunity for fundraising by early-stage agribusinesses and ultimately bring African youth to the fore of sustainable agricultural development.

It will provide a platform for crowd-sourcing of ideas and to establish the necessary frameworks to ensure that plans are followed through.

Among the high-profile personalities and speakers expected at the forum would include, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Ghana’s Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Mr Strive Masiyiwa, a Technology Entrepreneur, Mr Hailemariam Desalegn, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Dr Abebe Haile Gabriel, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, Food and Agriculture Organisation and Dr Jennifer Blanke, Vice President of the African Development Bank.

Source: GNA

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