The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) is organising a side event at the ongoing 8^th Africa Agribusiness and Science Week (AASW8) in Durban, South Africa.

With the theme Leading the way with agricultural innovations across Africa – The TAAT Example, TAAT through the side event, seeks to amplify it’s efforts at transforming  Africa’s food systems using technology brokerage as the pathway to achieving food security, delivering better nutrition, reducing poverty, and addressing the environmental challenges of the 21st century Africa. 

The event will distil the impact of TAAT’s deployment of scientific innovations and partnerships on food systems and how the Programme is helping African farmers to build climate and food resilience across agroecological zones. The side event will present vistas on how TAAT is scaling various research innovations to deliver impact in countries through country projects financed by Development Banks

The TAAT side event comes up on Tuesday the 6th of June 2023 at the Durban International Conference Centre by 14h00 (SAST).

Organised by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the AASW brings together more than 600 innovators, researchers, technology developers, private sector representatives, investors and policy-makers from over 50 African countries to take stock of progress on research and innovation, share information, network, create business alliances, and map out priorities for joint action.  .

Hosted under the theme “Linking science, innovation, and agri-business for resilient food systems”, this year’s AASW8 aims to provide agribusinesses with the necessary platform to take advantage of available technology and innovation, strengthen linkages between agribusiness and science to improve the continent’s productivity and competitiveness in agro-industry.. 

Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, Josefa Sacko, the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable environment, and South Africa’s Agricultural minister Thoko Didiza are among the African leaders across the continent to attend the conference.

The programme includes an opening plenary session with a high-level panel session and the FARA leadership prize for Advancing Science and Innovation in Agriculture, plenary sessions, parallel sessions, workshops, an agritech expo, and match-making sessions.

An action plan, coordinating activities to enhance agricultural productivity, improve livelihoods and build resilience to climate change and other shocks on the continent, will be launched on the first day of the event. Another highlight is the Durban Roundtable, which will focus on leveraging and combining science and agribusiness to achieve the outcomes expected from the Dakar 2 food and agriculture delivery compact.

The parallel sessions will focus on improving climate resilience, and natural resources management; Making African food systems nutrition-sensitive and gender-responsive; Strengthening Science: business linkages to boost intra-African trade; The transition of farming systems; Knowledge management, digitalisation, and youth entrepreneurship; and Policies, institutions, and capacities.