Ahead of its official launch, introductory talks on the African Union-European Union agri-food platform will be held on 25 June 2020 during an online event organised by the European Commission, the African Union and European Business Ghana. The participants will set the scene, assess the platform’s aims and highlight the role of farmers and rural youth in the platform.
The AU-EU agr-ifood platform aims at linking the African and European private sectors in the agri-food sector to foster sustainable and inclusive investments in African agriculture. This platform will help identify sector-specific barriers and challenges to private investment and trade. It will also promote agri-food twinning such as exchange of best practices or mentoring schemes between companies, as well as promote vocational training programmes. Finally it will give a structure and an effective voice to the African agri-business sector comparable to those in Europe.
This platform was included as a recommendation put forward by the Task force rural Africa in their report on 7 March 2019. This group of independent African and European experts was set up in May 2018 by the European Commission to provide advice on strengthening the Africa-Europe partnership in food and farming.
Furthermore, at the third AU-EU agricultural ministerial conference on 21 June 2019, AU and EU representatives endorsed a Political Declaration, accompanied by an action agenda and in line with the Task force rural Africa’s recommendations. The agri-food platform is included in the action agenda.