Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) will join agriculture leaders, policymakers, farmers, & innovators at the Africa Food Systems Summit (AFS), the world’s premier forum for African agriculture and food systems in Kigali, Rwanda from 2-6 September 2024.

The Programme will host two side events at the summit: Partnerships for Data-driven Agrifood Transformation and Food Systems Transformation: Emerging Insights from Mega Initiatives.

Alongside the African Development and the State Department of the United States, TAAT will equally co-host a high-level session on Advancing the Food Systems for Africa through the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) and the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS).

On the 3^rd of September 2024, TAAT in partnership with the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) will host leaders and stakeholders, including governments, seed companies, development agencies, extension officers, agronomists, farmer cooperatives, and other private sector actors charting innovative pathways in sustainable agriculture and seed business to a breakfast event and Inception Launch of the African Cereal and Legume Breeding Consortium at the 2024 Africa Food Systems Forum (AFS).

“This event will mark a pivotal juncture in our collective march towards food systems transformation in Africa as it will facilitate and liberalise access to certified seeds across Africa,” Geoffrey Nsofon, TAAT Private Sector Specialist, said.

TAAT experts and Country Engagement Officers will also participate in various other panel sessions and bilateral meetings at the annual summit on food systems transformation.

Established in 2018 as a central pillar of the African Development Bank’s Feed Africa strategy, TAAT represents a transformative initiative to reverse the trend of declining food productivity in Africa through the scaling of modern food production technologies to 40 million farmers across Africa, focusing on supporting young people and women in low-income regions.

TAAT has scaled up the dissemination of heat-tolerant wheat varieties, drought-tolerant maize, high-yielding rice, cassava, high-iron bean, sorghum, millet, orange-fleshed sweetpotato varieties and high-quality livestock breeds, and fingerlings to more than 12 million farmers, boosting crop production by an estimated 25 million tonnes. This increase in food production is a testament to the programme’s effectiveness in enhancing agricultural productivity across the continent.

TAAT acquires cutting-edge technologies from developers and agricultural research institutions led by the CGIAR for several agricultural value chains covering crops, livestock and fisheries, vets them for scaling readiness and integrates them into its electronic technology catalogue. TAAT engages governments to integrate proven technologies into their large-scale agricultural investment programmes and partner with the private sector to commercialise them.

The Africa Food Systems Summit is an annual event that brings together investors, policymakers, agriculture experts, and food systems experts to discuss and catalyse private sector investments and partnerships in the agricultural sector.