In 2020, Rwanda will host the African Green Revolution Forum and has also been chosen to become the long-term home for this prestigious group.
“We are honoured to be the home country for AGRF and are committed to working closely and collaboratively with our many partners across Africa and around the world to ensure the continued growth and influence of AGRF as the voice of Africa’s smallholder farmers and agribusinesses,” says Geraldine Mukeshimana, the Rwanda’s Agriculture Minister.
According to a communiqué, Rwanda was chosen through a competitive bidding process and the AGRF partners Group unanimously agreed and announced today that the Republic of Rwanda will host the AGRF 2020 and serve as the long-term home country of the forum going forward.
Part of the reasons for Rwanda’s selection is because in 2018, Rwanda hosted the AGRF but it featured the largest attendance on record and was then presided over by President Paul Kagame.
“The AGRF partners look forward to working closely with Rwanda in this new approach, particularly under the committed leadership of Kagame,” said Hailemariam Desalegn, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, who just this month was announced as the board chair for the AGRA ( Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) and as chair of the AGRF partners Group.
Hailemariam is currently in Rwanda attending the annual Kwita Izina in Northern Province of the country where 25 baby mountain gorillas got names today at a colorful ceremony presided over by President Kagame.
The AGRF Secretariat has been mandated to operationalize this new relationship with Rwanda immediately and ensure the arrangements are in place by the end of the year in order for Kigali to host AGRF 2020.
Rwanda’s partnership as the home country for AGRF will considered to increase accountability and commitment of the continents leaders to use the forum as a focal point for delivering on the goals laid out by African Heads of State and Government in the African Union’s Malabo Declaration, United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Africa Agenda 2063.
The Express News
