AUTHORS: Nora Hiller – Antoine Oger
This online event, co-organised by IEEP and TMG Research gGmbH, will look at the potential and trade-offs of digitalisation as an accelerator for food security in the context of the Africa-EU cooperation.
Wednesday 8 December
10:00-11:30 CET
Register here
Digitalisation is often presented as a straightforward response for addressing the many repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as the event will discuss, digitalisation alone cannot tackle the multifaceted and structural challenges that continue to undermine sustainable economic development on the African continent. With a focus on food security as one such fundamental challenge, the event will explore the importance of rights-based approaches in promoting climate-resilient food systems that strengthen societies and restore the agency of African populations in driving decision making on Africa’s future.
In the lead-up to next year’s EU-Africa summit in 2022, digitalisation will play a significant part. In the EU political context, the European Commission’s Joint Communication ‘Towards a Comprehensive Strategy with Africa’ puts emphasis on the economic benefit of digitalisation, and the European Parliament’s own initiative report highlights actions for food security and social transformation based on resilience and human rights. This political context forms part of the event topic, and further integrates the ongoing Africa-EU negotiations towards National and Regional Indicative Programmes under the MFF 2021-2027.
Against this background, TMG Research gGmbH and IEEP aim to provide specific proposals for better integration of digital tools into policies and programmes to strengthen food security and the progressive realisation of the right to food in African countries.
Speakers from key stakeholder groups, including the European Institutions and African Union Commissions, regional think tanks and civil society networks have been invited to the online event to discuss the opportunities and trade-offs of digitalisation as an accelerator of food security.
You can find more information on the topic of the event (food insecurity during COVID-19, the EU’s strategy with Africa, digital tools to achieve Zero Hunger) in the attached background note.
Event Programme
| 10:00 | Jes Weigelt, Head of Programmes TMG | Welcome and introductory remarks |
| 10:10 | Leonard MIZZI, Head of Unit at DG INTPA F.3 Sustainable Agri-food systems and fisheries, European Commission | European Commission’s vision for digital transformation in Africa |
10:20 | Elizabeth Kimani-Murage, Head, Maternal and Child Wellbeing, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) | The food and nutrition security imperative: Why tackling the entrenched challenges of food insecurity and climate vulnerability in Africa is at the heart of a sustainable recovery from Covid-19 and driving achievement of the SDGs |
| 10:30 | Mawaki Chango, Founder & CEO, DigiLexis Consulting, Togo | Democratising digitalisation pathways for Africa: How to design policies that “leave no one behind” |
| 10:40 | EU Parliament representative | A response to the Joint Communication |
| 10:50 | Sebastian Lesch, Head, Agriculture Department, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) | Digital transformation in achieving Zero Hunger – perspectives for Germany’s G-7 Presidency |
| 10:50 | Moderated discussion | |
| Barend Erasmus, Dean, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of PretoriaTunde Fafunwa, Africa-Europe Foundation | ||
11:20 | Wrap up by Co-Moderators/Hosts |
This event is part of a cooperation between IEEP and TMG Research gGmbH, a Berlin-based not-for-profit for inclusive socioeconomic change. It is organised in the context of the SEWOH Lab project, with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
