Event report
French Week Day#2:Agriculture & Food
Improving food security through win-win partnerships and local value chains!
We close the second day of our French Week with a conversation focused on food security challenges, and the development of local agri-food value chains. Tuesday, 14th November 2023 started with opening remarks from our Executive Director Laure Paugam and Jérôme Baconin, Head of the Regional Economic Department at the French Embassy.
We were honored to have Jonathan Mueke, Principal Secretary, State Department for Livestock Development as our Guest of Honor. The Principal Secretary explained the government’s action in driving the economic transformation of the country in the food and agriculture sector. He also urged investors to explore the Kenyan market and implement fruitful public-private partnerships in the agriculture space.
Our first-panel discussion, moderated by Jacqueline Khanali Njonjo from the IFC, focused on food security challenges with a fantastic line-up of panelists, Michele Kagari from One Acre Fund, Henry Kinyua from the Executive Office of the President, Teddy Bukhala from Proparco, Bimal Kantaria from Elgon, John Sassel from IMV Technologies, and Cyril Ferrand from the FAO. Putting farmers first and adding value to agribusiness were some of the actions mentioned in order to enhance food security.
The second-panel discussion focused on the development of stronger agri-food value chains in Kenya. The roundtable was moderated by Mourad Chouiqa from Bpifrance. The panelists, Nine Ayoub from Lesaffre, Gerald Masila, representing RentCo Africa, Cyprian Kabbis from Bureau Veritas, and Nche Wadike from Victory Farms had a discussion on innovation and provision of more sustainable solutions: funding for agribusiness and agro-processing.
Thanks to all the participants for the insightful conversations.
I look forward to seeing you for our upcoming French Week events!
A special thanks to our sponsors for making this second day a success!
Africa Global Logistics *CFAO * Mercure Hotels *Pernod Ricard *EDF* RentCo *PKF *EY* Mazars* Bureau Veritas * bpifrance *Business France * LA French Tech *French Embassy*
