Kigali, Rwanda – September 3, 2024
Ms. Beatrice Luzobe, the CEO of the Uganda Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (UFAAS), is this week participating in the African Food Systems Forum (AFSF) taking place 3-6 September 2024 in Kigali, Rwanda. The AFST is the world’s premier forum for African agriculture, bringing together stakeholders in the agricultural landscape to commit to Agricultural transformation across Africa.The 2024 event is held under the theme Innovate, Accelerate and Scale: Delivering food systems transformation in a digital and climate era.
Ms Luzobe spoke as a panelist during the session on “Digital Innovations in Extension and Advisory Services for Climate-Resilient Food Systems,” convened by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The session brought together key stakeholders to discuss the future of agricultural extension systems in Africa.
The panel discussed critical topics such as the role of extension systems, public and private investment, and the latest technological advancements in the field, with focus on digital technologies. Ms. Luzobe shared valuable insights on the collaborative approach championed by the country forum in Uganda – the Uganda Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (UFAAS), and similar networks across the continent. She highlighted how UFAAS’s networked approach offers a mechanism for organizing actors in agricultural extension and advisory services delivery, emphasizing the benefits of enhanced collaboration, networking, and collective problem-solving.
“Country Fora provide a supportive mechanism of organizing functional agricultural extension systems and have strong convening power”, said Ms Luzobe.
In her remarks, Ms. Luzobe also shared how UFAAS and other country fora could harness digital technologies to significantly impact climate adaptation efforts. She emphasized the importance of leveraging these technologies to reach a broader audience, improve the dissemination of critical information, and enhance the resilience of food systems in the face of climate change.
In the keynote speeches, Dr Paul Fatch, the Board Chairperson of the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) provided an overview of extension in Africa, and highlighted opportunities for digital integration, while Mr Rikin Ghandi, the CEO of Digital Green emphasized digital public infrastructure as a catalyst for digital advisories in agriculture.
Other speakers included Dr Boniface Akuku of Kenya Agricultural Livestock Research Organization, Mr Tajudeen the CEO of Extension Africa, and Mr Keith Shepherd, the Chief Scientist for Innovation Solutions for Decision Agriculture. The session was co-moderated by Dr Hlami Ngwenyo of The Global Forum for Advisory Services (GFRAS) and Dr Tawanda Hove from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The discussion underscored the need for increased investment in both public and private sectors to ensure that these digital innovations can be scaled up and made accessible to smallholder farmers, who are often the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
About UFAAS:
Uganda Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (UFAAS) is the country chapter of the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) in Uganda. It is a forum that brings together a wide range of actors involved in Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services (AEAS) in Uganda. UFAAS was launched in May 2011 and is registered in Uganda. AFAAS is the umbrella network organisation for AEAS in Africa. It operates within the framework of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), with a focus to Pillar IV.
Written by Elizabeth Asiimwe.
For correspondence, please contact:
Ms Beatrice Luzobe
Chief Executive Officer, UFAAS
Email: ufaas2013@gmail.com