Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, March 17th, 2023 – Her Excellency Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, has officially launched Africa’s Food System Forum 2023, the premier platform for advancing the agriculture and food systems agenda in Africa.
The launch, which took place at State House, Tanzania, emphasized the importance of including youth and women as critical drivers of Africa’s food systems agenda.
The theme of this year’s forum, “Recover, Regenerate, Act: Africa’s Solutions to Food Systems Transformation,” focuses on building back better food systems and food sovereignty. It identifies three steps needed to achieve this transformation: recovery, regeneration, and action. Recovery calls for decisive strategies and actions to help the continent recover and rebuild its food systems following multiple crises and shocks. Regeneration emphasizes the need to regenerate natural resources such as soil and water, which are essential for sustainable food production. Action refers to the need to urgently address food systems challenges such as climate change, food waste, and food insecurity, with only seven years before the 2030 SDG deadline.
The forum will spotlight the role of women and youth in the food systems conversation, with a focus on regenerating interest in agriculture as a means of wealth creation for the continent.
Speaking at the launch in Dar es Salaam, President Suluhu highlighted the critical role of youth and women in Africa’s food systems agenda. She also emphasized that more than 25 percent of Tanzania’s GDP relies on the agricultural sector and announced Tanzania’s goal to become a food granary for Africa and the world.
The Africa Food Systems Forum will take place from September 5th-8th, 2023, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with a pre-summit event scheduled for September 4th, 2023. The summit will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, including leaders, policymakers, scientists, heads of governments and private institutions, farmers, and youth, to agree on practical actions and solutions to drive Africa’s food security forward and create better livelihoods for all.