NAIROBI, Kenya – A line up of 300 guests, including governments, private sector, youth, women leaders, and farmer organization will convene in Nairobi, Kenya on May 25-28th 2022 for the first G-25 Africa coffee Summit under the leadership of H.E Uhuru Kenyatta. The summit focus is to re-evaluate the role of African coffee producers in coffee trade.
Under the theme of “Sustainable Development and Economic Growth in the African Coffee Sector”, this year’s Summit will put a spotlight on new commitments to the future of African coffee production and the aspiration to accelerate Agricultural Growth and Transformation towards realization of our Pan African Vision. The Summit will have a special focus on the role of coffee producers on the African Continent with various issues faced by these groups expected to dominate the discussions.
Representing the host government, Kenya’s Minister for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives, the Hon. Peter Munya, said the conversation at the G-25 Africa Coffee Summit needs to extend beyond agriculture and consider African Continental Free Trade Area agreement. The agreement provides free movement of persons, capital, goods and services to enhance economic integration and promotion of agricultural development, food security, industrialization and structural economic transformation.
COVID-19 highlighted the fragility of the continent’s agricultural systems. Lockdowns, curfews and illnesses revealed threats in supply throughout Africa, and the pandemic was another example of the need to build more resilient agricultural systems on the continent. Since 2014, droughts have cost the region US$372 billion. While the worst locust outbreak in a generation in Ethiopia and Somalia during 2019/20 destroyed over 356,000MT of cereals and almost 1.5 million hectares of crop and pasture in Ethiopia.
The G-25 Africa Coffee Summit 2022 will provide a platform for all stakeholders to align on the actions and commitments needed to build resilient agricultural systems which support the delivery of the sustainable development goals. The Summit is a defining moment for Africa’s coffee growing nations. It is the time to listen, innovate, plan and invest for Africa. What we invest in African coffee today will determine the future of the crop in Africa and the world tomorrow.
Hosting the event will accord the country an opportunity to participate and the knowledge gathered will go a long way towards informing policy directions and formulation of appropriate strategies for promoting coffee production, enhancing inter-African coffee trade, promoting coffee consumption among other benefits such as promoting cross border investment and tourism.
