About GLF Africa 2022

GLF Africa 2022: How to build an equitable, resilient food future brought together over 8,500 participants from 122 countries and featured 182 leading scientists, activists, Indigenous leaders, financiers, youth and government leaders, and 68 incredible partners to explore African solutions to the global food crisis caused by climate change, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. 

Across 31 plenaries, interactive sessions, launches, virtual tours, dialogues, performances, and a job fair, the digital conference explored ways to transform the future of food through healthy landscapes, equitable access to land, and shorter, greener value chains. Messages spread on social media rallied 26 million people around concrete ways for Africa to regain its food sovereignty.

Elizabeth Mrema on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework in Africa

Elizabeth Mrema, the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity expressed the concerning state of traditional occupations that contribute to sustainable development such as pastoralism, fishing, herding, waving, and craving due to the increasing pressure on land, climate change, and discriminatory factors.

The post-2020 global biodiversity framework defines targets and pathways for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity for the next decade and beyond. Mrema calls for action to align with such a framework with the aim of elevating sustainable food systems on the global agenda and ensuring a healthy clean environment for everyone – “Together we can help create a future of living in harmony with nature.”

Chika Ezeanya Esiobu on the role of African traditional knowledge in agriculture

Chika Ezeanya Esiobu is a researcher, teacher, non-fiction, and fiction writer convinced that the acknowledgment of the significance of Africa’s Indigenous knowledge – in all fields of human endeavor – is key to the continent’s advancement. “Agricultural knowledge can be key in the advancement of food security in the region,” Chika remarks.