Dar es Salaam. Former Ethiopian Prime Minister and board chairman of the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (Agra) Hailemariam Dessalegn arrived in the country yesterday, Friday, July 9, 2021.
Mr Dessalegn is expected to meet President Samia Suluhu Hassan for discussions on the government’s priorities on the food systems.
A statement from Agra, which was availed to The Citizen yesterday, says Tanzania would be the fifth country after Mr Dessalegn’s successful visits to Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.
“Key to his visit is the mobilization of political leaders and the private sector’s participation in promoting agribusiness as a way of stimulating food security and increasing household income,” reads the statement in part.
His visit comes at a time when Africa is prepared for the UN Food Systems Summit in September, where the world will take stock of the progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially the commitment to end hunger and poverty by 2030.
“Mr Dessalegn will also use the opportunity to invite President Hassan to the 11th African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) summit slated to take place in Nairobi, Kenya between September 7 and September 10, 2021,” reads the statement.
Furthermore, the statement says in concluding his visit, Mr Dessalegn will engage Agra’s staff and partners in reviewing the impact of their work in the country’s pursuit of an agricultural transformation.
Agra is an African-led and Africa-based institution established in 2006 to put smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives.
With its partners, Agra catalyzes and sustains an inclusive agricultural transformation to increase incomes and improve food security for 30 million farming households in 11 African countries by 2021.
Culled from https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/former-ethiopian-pm-dessalegn-in-tanzania-for-high-profile-conversations-on-food-systems-transformation-3467892
