SIAL Daily sat down with two of the speakers leading the African Food Summit today, Nicolas Bricas, Researcher for Cirad, partner of the SIAL Paris African Food Summit, and Chairholder for the UNESCO Chair in World Food Systems, and Damien Conaré, Secretary General of the UNESCO Chair in World Food Systems

These experts outlined the role of their organisations as well as today’s summit’s main topics and goals.

Can you start by presenting Cirad and the UNESCO Chair in World Food Systems?
N.B: Cirad is a public research and cooperation establishment with around 1,500 staff working in collaboration with research centres in a large number of countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the French overseas departments and territories. We work on agricultural, livestock and forestry issues at several levels: in genetics to improve plants and animals, in the fight against disease, on the scale of farms and agri-food businesses to improve agricultural production and product processing techniques, and then on a broader scale, on the scale of policies, we work on the evaluation of agricultural and food policies. We always work in cooperation with national or international institutions, particularly in Africa, where we host researchers from these countries, and have staff working in research teams, often on long-term programmes, focusing on a particular issue and following on from one type of project to another.

D.C: The UNESCO Chair in World Food Systems’ job is to be at the interface between science and society and therefore to translate research results into action by those involved in bringing about change in agricultural and food systems. We have three main types of activity: training, which means that we manage the teaching of a specialised master’s course called “Innovation and Policy for Sustainable Food”; and coordinating and promoting research programmes. We have done a lot of work on the issue of urban food systems, particularly in Africa, and we’re continuing to do so through a project called AfriFoodLinks, which is a study of food environments in five pilot cities in Africa. The third aspect is the dissemination of knowledge through publications, symposia and conferences.

How did you decide on the topics covered in the African Food Summit?
D.C.: We’ve thought about the angles and developed the African Food Summit topics based on them. The first is the objective of employment; agricultural employment, and obviously employment in the processing industries, which is a huge issue, and employment and financing, i.e. how to access credit and financing for entrepreneurs and formalise sectors which in many countries are still in the informal economy. A second point is the dynamics of African food cultures, so looking at the more cultural dimension of food, diversity, etc. Then a third, that of the food industry.

There are a number of factors underlying these approaches, the first being that we are on a continent with a history that is not insignificant, which has to be taken into account. And above all, this is obviously a very sensitive sector while there are still particular regions of the continent defending food security.

N.B.: Another objective of the summit is to counter the view we often hear that Africa needs to be fed by countries with large-scale agricultural production, that Africa needs technology transfers because its technologies are archaic, that Africa needs money because it’s too poor, or in other words to see Africa only as a continent that can’t manage on its own. There is a very strong demand for sovereignty in these countries, and in particular for food sovereignty. We need to stop thinking for Africans, and what would be good for them, stop imagining that Africa doesn’t have technology and that we have to provide it, stop thinking that Africa can’t produce enough food and that we have to produce for it.

We hear this a lot these days, particularly in Europe and in countries that are major agro-exporters. Africa does indeed face major challenges, but it is perfectly capable of meeting them. That doesn’t mean it will do so without working with others, but the cooperation must become much more balanced and respectful of those who have the money, power and food surpluses. I think this is important because we know that food industry shows like SIAL Paris are also meeting places for major companies who are currently experiencing major difficulties in industrialised countries, which are saturated, and believe that new growth areas are developing countries and in particular Africa, with its demographic growth and the emergence of its middle class. And we are going against that vision. It’s about giving a voice to Africans so that they can explain what they are doing, how they see their future, the future of their food, and we can first listen to them instead of thinking for them.

African Food Summit
Apart from its role as an important business gathering for the agri-food industry, SIAL Paris is also a platform for discussions around the major issues and challenges facing the sector. The African Food Summit taking place today will showcase Africa’s diversity and creativity, inviting attendees to explore emerging trends in both gastronomy and product design.

Today
2:00p.m. – 5:00p.m.
SIAL Summits – Hall 5A, Gallery