Participation by HH in 2nd Dakar Summit on Agriculture in Senegal

Today, President Hakainde Hichilema is due to go to Dakar, Senegal, for a three-day summit on agriculture.

Beginning tomorrow, January 25, and continuing through Friday, January 27, 2023, the Head of State will take part in the summit.

The trip is being made at President Macky Sall’s invitation, according to Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Stanely Kakubo.

He said in a statement that Mr. Hichilema is a member of a limited group of African heads of state tasked with ensuring that Africa secures more affordable capital funding for investments in agricultural inputs and value chains.

President Hichilema will therefore join 18 other Heads of State and Government at the second edition of this important Summit, convened in collaboration with African Development Bank (AfDB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Research (IFAR) where the African Development Bank is expected to announce its Compact Fund to support structural transformation in agriculture in countries such as Zambia,” he said.

The President will take part in Presidential High Level Roundtable discussions on agriculture, food security, and integration during the Summit, which will be centered around the subject “Feed Africa: Food Resilience and Food Sovereignty,” according to Mr. Kakubo.

In order to draw investments from private sector stakeholders and international organizations, he said the president will also preside over the introduction of Zambia’s Compact on Agriculture, which defines the country’s potential and strategies for growth of the sector.

The participation of the President in this meeting is therefore crucial in order to shore up the Government’s ongoing efforts to create opportunities for joint ventures and partnerships in the Agriculture sector, with key industry players, in recognition of it being a major source of livelihood for the majority of the Zambian people.The Government, under the leadership of President Hichilema, has continued to seek investments towards climate smart agriculture in order to enhance food security, ensure resilience of livelihoods and respond to the effects of climate change,” he said.

Mr. Kakubo continued, “The President is also planned to hold bilateral discussions with other presidents and heads of significant international organizations on the sidelines of the Summit.”