Government of Kenya and AATF To Co-host African Conference on Agricultural Technology (ACAT) – (30 October 2023 to 3 November 2023)
The inaugural Africa n Conference on Agricultural Technology (ACAT) to be held in Nairobi, Kenya from 30 October 2023 to 3 November 2023, will showcase the contributions of Science , Technology and Innovation’s (STI’s) towards Agricultural Transformation, the Africa Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) https://www.aatf-africa.org/ announced.
According to AATF, the biggest agricultural technology solutions provider organization in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the regional conference would be an opportunity to fully showcase and celebrate STI’s contribution towards enhancing food security and livelihoods to encourage dialogue and innovation.
The ACAT which will be co-hosted by the Government of Kenya, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, and AATF, will serve asthe premier platform for advancing African agricultural technology transfer and advocating for the uptake of innovations.
Speaking in connection with the announcement of the conference organization, Kenya’s Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development Mr. Phillip Harsama said that the government of Kenya is pleased to co-host the inaugural ACAT 2023 and are honored to welcome to Nairobi the global, regional and local community to this important forum and look forward to discuss actionable solutions to the challenges facing the sector that will also drive change and foster growth.
He indicated that the conference comes at an opportune time when the continent is struggling to feed its people and climate change is posing serious challenges to Africa’s collective prosperity.
The AATF Executive Director, Dr. Canisius Kanangire, noted that ACAT will highlight the centrality of STI in fostering agricultural transformation, especially in addressing key challenges facing African farmers. “Often the role of STI in agriculture and especially innovative technologies has not been emphasized,” he added.
ACAT will intensify efforts to forge partnerships with like-minded organizations working in the agriculture technology sector and provide opportunity for stakeholders to share information on new and emerging agricultural technologies
AATF Executive Director, Dr. Canisius Kanangire
According to Dr. Kanangire, ACAT will intensify efforts to forge partnerships with like-minded organizations working in the agriculture technology sector and provide opportunity for stakeholders to share information on new and emerging agricultural technologies.
AATF’s Goodwill Ambassador for Agriculture Technology in Africa and former President Federal Republic of Nigeria H.E. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan expressed his support for the realization of the conference and indicated that agriculture plays a pivotal role in Africa’s economic agenda, contributing significantly to employment, food security, and economic growth.
“ACAT will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to “walk the talk” and move beyond discussions about new technologies to embracing and adopting them,” said Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
“AATF has been at the forefront of facilitating access, development and commercialization of agricultural technologies and this conference will help to put a spotlight on the numerous game-changing innovations that have been developed and highlight opportunities to address the multiple stressors facing the sector due to population growth, climate change and other factors,” Dr. Kanangire pointed out.
Executive Director underscored that ACAT will provide a unique platform to discuss barriers to technology transfer and propose strategies for transforming existing technologies into super Next Generation technologies capable of enhancing productivity and effectively addressing the challenges faced by African farmers.
AATF has dedicated itself to promoting innovative agricultural technology transfers that address farmer productivity constraints, working with partners across the continent to access 24 innovative and cutting-edge agricultural technologies worth over US$650 million spread across 24 countries and reaching 4.8 million smallholder farmers with new interventions during the last five years.