"Working in partnership, the private and public sector can unlock the full potential of agriculture as a driver of economic growth and stability for Africa," says Kofi Annan.
The event will gather public and private players in Accra, Ghana from September 2nd to 4th, for one of the continent’s major gatherings focusing solely on agriculture development.
“Sustainable agriculture is pathway to food security”
Chairman of the Board of AGRA, Kofi Annan
Yara hosted the African Green Revolution Conference in Oslo in 2007 and 2008. At the last Oslo event, Yara and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) agreed to join forces to make the AGRF a forum led by and for Africans, and held in Africa.
The founding partners, led by AGRA Chairman and former UN General Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and Yara’s then CEO, Thorleif Enger, invited other companies and organizations to join and help develop the forum into a leading arena where all key stakeholders could convene.
Increasing food production substantially in Africa requires a comprehensive and integrated approach to improving the productivity, profitability and sustainability of smallholder farmers. The forum will promote investments and policy initiatives that will drive income growth for African farmers in an environmentally sustainable way. It will look at progress in unlocking Africa’s agricultural potential and facilitating sustainable economic growth thanks to new investment and public-private partnerships.
Yara President and Chief Executive Officer, Jørgen Ole Haslestad, has no doubt that public-private partnerships are key to progress and agricultural development in Africa. “Initiatives such as the agricultural growth corridors show that collaboration between the various players does indeed work, and that together we can transform agriculture in Africa.”
The event in Ghana will be chaired by Kofi Annan and hosted by H.E. John Atta Mills, President of Ghana and the Government of Ghana.
“Working in partnership, the private and public sector, with full engagement of farmers organizations and the civil society, can unlock the potential of agriculture as a driver of economic growth and stability for Africa,” says Kofi Annan.
