The Brussels Development Briefing n.45 on the subject of “Smart and Affordable farming solutions for Africa: the next driver for agricultural transformation” was held in Brussels at 09:00-13:00 on 13th July 2016 at the Albert Borschette Congress Center, Room 1.A (Rue Froissart 36, 1040 Brussels).  This Briefing was organised by the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), in collaboration with the European Commission, the the European Commission / DEVCO, the ACP Secretariat, CONCORD, CEMA, Agricord and the PanAfrican Farmer’s Organisation (PAFO).

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Programme and Background Note

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 **  PROGRAMME  **

Introduction and Opening of the Briefing: Isolina Boto, Manager, CTA Brussels Office [presentation|video]

Introductory remarks:  Jean-Pierre Halkin, Head of Unit, Rural Development, Food & Nutrition Security, Europeaid, European Commission [video]; Ulrich Adam, Secretary General, CEMA [video]; Juha Ruippo, Director of the Finnish Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK) Brussels [video]; Theo de Jager, President, Panafrican Farmers Organisation (PAFO) [video]; Michael Hailu Director of CTA [video]

Panel 1: Setting the scene: Drivers of smart-farming in Africa
This panel will discuss the available tools and approaches in support of smart-farming which can benefit the smallholders. It will also discuss public-private partnerships (PPPs) and multi-stakeholder alliances that aim at accelerating investments and transformative change in African agriculture.
ChairH.E. Kaire Mbuende, Ambassador of Namibia [video]
Panellists:

– Smart-farming: trends and new opportunities benefiting small-holders
Josef Kienzle, Expert, Equipment and Institutions/Agro-Industries, Rural Infrastructure and Agro-Industries. Division (AGST), FAO  [presentation|video]

– Connecting your farm: the future of Precision Agriculture in Africa
Louisa Parker, Manager Institutional Funding and Stakeholder Relations Africa and Middle EastAdvanced Technology Solutions AGCO Corporation (AGCO)  [presentation|video]

– Contribution of unmanned aerial systems to precision farming
Giacomo Rambaldi, Senior Coordinator ICT, CTA; Damien van Eeckhout, Head of International Business Development, Airinov   [presentation|video]

– Smart farming: a priority for farmers in Africa
Theo de Jager, President, Panafrican Farmers Organisation (PAFO)  [presentation|video]

Debate Panel 1 [video]

Panel 2: Scaling up successes in smart farming
This panel will look at specific examples of successful smart-farming applications at various levels. It will also show smart inclusive and sustainable PPPs.
ChairH.E. Teneng Mba Jaiteh, Ambassador of Gambia [video]
Panellists:

– PPPs: Upscaling agribusiness successes in Africa
Chris Addison, Senior Coordinator, CTA;  Stephen Muchiri, CEO, Eastern African Farmers Federation, Kenya   [presentation|video]

– Proven successful smart-farming technologies: the case of Potato initiative Africa
Frank Nordmann, Grimme, Germany  [presentation|video]

– Empowering women and youth through capacity building
Eric Kaduru, KadAfrica, Uganda  [executive summary|video]

– Pooling forces: Machinery rings and cooperatives
Andreas Hastedt, Board member, German Association of Machinery Rings  [video]

Debate Panel 2 [video]

Closing Remarks [video]