استكشاف الملاحظات الرسمية للحوار

Access to inputs and means of production: On this particular subject, the young farmers identified corruption, lack of awareness regarding agricultural inputs, limited implementation of quality control, and limited access of technical people as constraints 31 | P a g e to means of production. Others include COVID-19 restrictions leading to inaccessibility such as limitation in movement due to lockdowns, knowledge barrier for young farmers in terms of quality inputs, and the high cost of inputs in general. On this issue, the youth suggested the need for government to do restructuring of service... قراءة المزيد providers, the need to decentralise agricultural institutions, to do capacity building of agricultural personnel, to be more vigilant on counterfeit goods and to have increased awareness and education on agricultural products and services as part of the solutions or suggestions for way forward. قراءة القليل

Agricultural policy: In relation to policies affecting agriculture, the youth mentioned that there is poor dissemination of information to users, that is, the government makes very good policies but unfortunately they are not shared with the beneficiaries or end users thus farmers are always caught off guard, that there is lack of a forum to report to government about youth influence or impact by the policies made, there is lack of access to information to understand or be able to respond to the opportunities available thereby hindering youth access among others. In terms of proposed solutions... قراءة المزيد, the youth suggested the need for governments to openly share information with the young farmers, to sensitize young farmers on available policies, the need to gather feedback from youth on effectiveness of provided policies and for the governments to prioritise youth inclusion in policy making and implementation. Also, agriculture should be budgeted for appropriately, there is need to streamline the mandate of government bodies on implementation of the budget and last but not least to create awareness and education for the political class regarding agricultural policies. قراءة القليل

See section below on outcomes per topic of discussion

The dialogue focused the discussions on the following subjects: Subject 1: Are agricultural policies favorable to the development of sustainable and innovative food systems? Subject 2: What are the challenges in terms of access to quality inputs and means of production to ensure a sustainable and innovative food system Subject 3: What are the main levers able to promote productivity in the face of the challenges of climate change and various shocks and stresses? What are the measures to be taken for a post-Covid 19 recovery? Subject 4: How to ensure better access and security to / of agricultu... قراءة المزيدral land? Subject 5: What are the challenges of agricultural financing and what measures should be put in place to improve the situation? Subject 6: How to ensure better inclusion of women and young people in agriculture? قراءة القليل

Inclusion: On the subject of inclusion, the members highlighted the lack of access for women and youth to land, preponderant land grabbing and retrogressive cultural practices as some of the constraints. However, the members suggested that this can be remedied by proper policies that make access to land, credit facilities and training opportunities possible for women and youth, making it possible for smallholder farmers to have access to agricultural land through favourable concessions, and reducing or eliminating prohibitive cultural practices that discriminate against women and youth regardi... قراءة المزيدng land matters. قراءة القليل

Agricultural Financing: It was mentioned that there is lack of access to Agricultural financing, there are high interest rate products on agricultural financing, unfavourable collaterals, lack of insurance, and weak infrastructure for agricultural value chains among others as constraints. Some of the solutions suggested by the members include the need to secure farming areas, establishing proper systems for insuring farm products, sensitising farmers on existing financial services, providing affordable collaterals and governments supporting agricultural value chains for sustainability

Agricultural Land: The members mentioned that land grabbing was prevalent in the region, that there was the threat to farm land by high density populations, failure to allow women access to land ownership, land erosion and lack of proper land tenure policies as some of the constraints affecting agricultural land.21 | P a g e As part of the solution, the members reckoned that proper land tenure policies need to be instituted, there is need to protect land from soil erosion and governments must ensure proper management of land laws among others

Resilience: The participants took note that there are certain constraints hindering farmers in the region from exercising resilience in the face of emerging issues. For example, they mentioned that there is lack of access to quality farm inputs by smallholder farmers, lack of adaptation, and lack of government support for smallholder farmers among others. In terms of solutions, the members suggested the need for availability of quality farm inputs, facilitation of custom clearance for farm inputs, the need to ease cross-border barriers, the need for governments in the region to assist farmers ... قراءة المزيدand sensitization of farmers on the importance of carrying out short cycle agricultural activities. قراءة القليل

Agricultural Policy: In terms of constraints affecting the subject of agricultural policy, the members noted that some countries lack agricultural policies or lack political good will in implementing the policies. Also, there is ineffective implementation, poor communication to farmers regarding the policies, and prohibitive conditions for access to financing among others. It was noted that there is need for favourable agricultural policies for smallholder farmers, there is need for affordable agricultural inputs and governments in the region need to support farmer organisations to produce saf... قراءة المزيدe and affordable farm inputs such as fertilisers. These were perceived as some possible solutions for the aforementioned constraints قراءة القليل

see section below on outcomes per topic of discussion

The dialogue focused the discussions on the following subjects: Subject 1:Are agricultural policies favorable to the development of sustainable and innovative food systems? Subject 2: What are the main levers able to promote productivity in the face of the challenges of climate change and various shocks and stresses? What are the measures to be taken for a post-Covid 19 recovery? Subject 3: How to ensure better access and security to / of agricultural land? Subject 4: What are the challenges of agricultural financing and what measures should be put in place to improve the situation? Subject 5:... قراءة المزيد How to ensure better inclusion of women and young people in agriculture? قراءة القليل

Inclusion: A key constraint noted regarding inclusion was the fact that in most cultures women and youth do not own land. It was also clear that farming has not presented itself in a favourable manner especially to the youth.It was suggested that, in order to overcome this hurdle, governments in the region need to review policies and make provisions for women and youth to have access to land for agricultural activities. Further, women need to be trained and empowered and there is need to incorporate innovations and creativity when it comes to farming so as to harness the skills of youth and th... قراءة المزيدereby make farming endearing to the young generations. قراءة القليل