Today, the Malabo Montpellier Panel at AKADEMIYA2063 (www.AKADEMIYA2063.org) will host the 9^th edition of the biannual Malabo Montpellier Forum (https://bit.ly/2Zg5RKl) to address policy innovations for food systems transformation, building resilience and adapting to climate change, and promoting stakeholder dialogue against the backdrop of COVID-19, COP26 and the United Nations Food Systems post-summit agenda. The virtual high-level policy conversation will equally provide a forum to unveil and debate Recipes for success: policy innovations to transform Africa’s food systems and build resilience, a monograph which captures policy and institutional innovations across seven thematic areas tackled in reports published by the Panel between 2017 and 2020.

“Even though Africa has made great strides in advancing towards the Malabo Declaration and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the continent is not on track to achieve Zero Hunger (SDG 2) by 2030”, said Dr. Ousmane Badiane, AKADEMIYA2063 Executive Chairperson and Co-Chair at the Malabo Montpellier Panel. “The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically exposed the fragility of African food systems and highlighted the need to redouble efforts to sustain the pace of economic recovery.  The monograph provides a practical, evidence-based guide to support African countries’ efforts to accelerate progress towards ending hunger and transforming their food systems,” he said.

“Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, and cognizant of its far-reaching ramifications on agriculture and the economy, the Malabo Montpellier Panel, through this report, is making a tangible contribution to global efforts towards building back better and learning from experience for better preparedness,” said Prof. Joachim von Braun, Malabo Montpellier Panel Co-Chair from the Center for Development Research, Bonn University in Germany. “The evidence gathered in this report provides critical insights on achieving food systems transformation in Africa that is sustainable, resilient, equitable, and in line with overall climate goals and ambitions,” he said.

The convening equally comes on the heels of the appointment of Malabo Montpellier Forum Co-Chairs (https://bit.ly/3oSiiVh), H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn, Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and H.E. Assia Bensalah Alaoui, Ambassador-at-large of His Majesty Mohamed VI King of Morocco.

“As we all can agree, 2021 has been one of the challenging years in human history. Nevertheless, it's also a year to turn around the old thinking on our food systems transformation,” said H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn. “The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the weakness of the business as the usual approach we apply in the production, processing, trading, and consumption of our food. A fragmented, broken, and isolated approach cannot work. It must be interconnected, holistic, and comprehensive. We need to employ a systems approach to address the challenge, and this calls for policy innovation for food systems transformation in our continent,” he said.

“The Malabo Montpellier Forum endeavors to be an efficient bridge between the leading scientific expertise provided by the Malabo Montpellier Panel in key areas – agriculture, ecology, nutrition, food security, the decision-makers, and agenda setters,” said H.E. Assia Bensalah Alaoui.  “Thanks to the platform, the meetings and various communication devices, the Forum reaches out to broader constituencies, providing decision guidance and support for those which seek to replicate, adapt and even scale up examples of innovations and progress achieved by best-performing countries,” she said.

The meeting will feature over 22 high-level speakers (https://bit.ly/3l2RP6j), delivering seven fireside chats and one high-level policy roundtable discussion.