EMRC Agribusiness Forum officially closes in Kinshasha

By Godfrey Olukya 26-3-2015

The EMRC annual Agribusiness Forum, organised by EMRC international, was officially closed yesterday in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic of Congo, in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock, Mr Isidore Kabwe Mwebhu Longo.

A statement issued today by EMRC communications manager Jessica Fremmer indicated that in his closing remarks, the minister welcomed the opportunity that the Forum provided to enable all stakeholders in the agricultural value chains to get a better sense of the potential and challenges of agriculture in Africa, and in particular in central Africa. He also assured the delegates of the DRC’s commitment to the development of agriculture, and called on participants to strengthen their efforts to drive the transformation of the sector: “The DRC is fully committed to the development of the sector, with the helps of the private sector”, he said.

His intervention was followed by a few closing remarks by Mrs Idit Miller, VP and Managing Director of EMRC. She thanked the people and government of the DRC for hosting the Forum, the first major international Forum on agriculture held in Kinshasa over the past few years.

“Our first and foremost ambition is that the past 3 days will have contributed to bringing the African continent a few steps closer to developing its agricultural potential”, she said. “The quality of the discussions, including the special session on the opportunities in the DRC, has filled many of us with energy and hope for the future of this country”.

Kinshasha declaration states that to ensure that discussions are followed by action, participants at the forum drafted the Kinshasa Declaration, listing a number of key recommendations and calling for the establishment of national agribusiness platforms as vehicles for implementation. The proposed role of such platforms would be to pursue objectives such as the pooling of technical financial resources of the main actors involved in strengthening agricultural value chains, better coordination, and leveraging synergies and experiences among the respective countries where such platforms would be established.

The Kinshasa declaration follows the Johannesburg declaration of 2011 on the development of inclusive agribusiness, which called for specific measures to be taken by the different stakeholders and partners of the agricultural value chains in order to drive the development and transformation of the agricultural sector on the African continent.

The theme of this year was creating a vision for Africa’s Agricultural Transformation by fostering inclusive growth. Over a period of three days, the Forum covered several key elements of transformation, and specifically: The modernisation of the agricultural sector, the creation of a sustainable and inclusive growth environment, and the promotion of responsible finance.

The Forum also offered a significant opportunity to bring together business, government officials, donors, farmers and researchers to build partnerships for the sustainable and inclusive growth of the agro-food sector in Africa.

The EMRC Agribusiness Forum was held this year under the auspices of the Presidency of the DRC and in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the DR Congo’s Fund for the Promotion of Industry (FPI). The Forum has become a permanent feature of annual meetings on the African continent. It is a major event, bringing together hundreds of delegates from Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas: International experts, investors and donors, governments, multinationals, businesses and local food producers.

The event is supported by the Rabobank Foundation, LR Group, AGCO, Cargill, Balton CP, Élan RDC, Trust Merchant Bank, African Milling, SNV, Standard Bank, GAFSP, the Belgian Technical Cooperation, The Royal Dutch Embassy in the DR Congo, the European Investment Bank, the International Finance Corporation and Ethiopian Airlines.

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