Kigali: The National Reference Group (NRG) meeting on “Agro-Processing: What Relations with Climate, Food and Trade?” will introduce participants on 28 April to the PACT EAC2 project, which builds capacities of relevant East African stakeholders for climate-aware, trade-driven and food security-enhancing agro-processing in the region, according Francois Munyentwari, Country Director of ACORD.
Kigali: The National Reference Group (NRG) meeting on “Agro-Processing: What Relations with Climate, Food and Trade?” will introduce participants on 28 April to the PACT EAC2 project, which builds capacities of relevant East African stakeholders for climate-aware, trade-driven and food security-enhancing agro-processing in the region, according Francois Munyentwari, Country Director of ACORD.
To kick-start the process, participants will propose key elements for a research study, and be briefed about the current status in multilateral trade and climate negotiations.
The still infant agro-processing industry in East Africa has been earmarked as having huge potential for poverty reduction, growth and regional integration.
The region’s success in realizing this potential will partly depend on its ability to factor in the ever-increasing challenges posed by climate change, and work in synergy with its own trade agenda.
In an ideal scenario, trade policies should ensure the availability of inputs despite climate change, markets for the processed products and access to cleaner technologies; while climate change policies support this effort through targeted adaptation and mitigation initiatives.
The role of international trade and climate negotiations in framing the policy space for such policies should not be overlooked.
In this context, the project “Promoting Agriculture, Climate and Trade linkages in the EAC – phase 2” (PACT EAC2) builds capacities of East Africans for climate-aware, trade-driven and food security-enhancing agro-processing in their region.
Until 2019, the project will bring together, inform, train and move to advocacy action hundreds of stakeholders from the government, businesses, civil society, media, academia and farming communities.
The meeting will introduce the PACT EAC2 Project. It will review the policy state of play on agro-processing, climate change, food security and trade.
The participants have also to identify elements to be included in a study on “how can agro-processing become more climate-aware, trade-driven and food security enhancing?”.
The meeting will update stakeholders on the current status of trade (WTO) and climate (UNFCCC) negotiations.