Today, AKADEMIYA2063 (www.AKADEMIYA2063.org) will kick off the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) Annual Conference to promote review and dialogue on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on African food systems and policy options to ensure recovery and strengthen resilience to future shocks. Organized in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC), under the theme “Building resilient African food systems after COVID-19,” the three-day (15-17 November) virtual conference will equally unveil the ReSAKSS 2021 Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR) (https://bit.ly/3kGlfaa). 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to health, economic and agrifood systems around the globe, causing severe disruptions to African economies and food systems; it has interrupted the longest period of sustained economic growth in the continent’s history,” said Dr. Ousmane Badiane, AKADEMIYA2063 Executive Chair. “Building resilient African food systems is one of the seven commitments of the 2014 Malabo Declaration. It calls for a broad perspective on food systems resilience that takes into account implications for and actions by all food systems actors. The 2021 Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR) presents a body of research-based evidence to facilitate understanding of the pandemic’s effects and support the design of post-COVID-19 recovery measures that strengthen the resilience of African food systems,” he said.   

Featuring five plenaries and five panel sessions, with over 23 organizations in attendance, the conference will provide a forum to discuss research evidence and recommendations presented in the 2021 ATOR. The report assesses the impacts of COVID-19 on Africa’s food systems, examines the responses of African governments to the crisis, in particular their expansion of social protection programs to mitigate negative impacts on households, and equally discusses tools, methodologies and approaches to measure the impacts of COVID-19 and similar crises and to assess the resilience of individuals, communities, and countries. The 2021 ReSAKSS Conference will result in a shared understanding of required policies and actions to accelerate Africa’s recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, preparedness for future shocks and potential solutions to challenges related to measuring the impacts of and resilience to complex shocks. The event will be attended by high-level policy leaders (https://bit.ly/3cfuFFe), including H.E. Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, AU Commissioner, Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Development (AUC-DARBE).