Week 1 of the Africa-UK AgriFood Innovation Online Missions Southern and Central Round-up
We kicked off the first week of the virtual missions with success! Would you like a round-up?
Recordings are now available for Southern and Central Region
Registration now open for Week 2 and 3! Click on the links below.
Monday 8th June, Week 2 (Eastern region)
Monday 15th June, Week 3 (Western region)
What a fantastic start to the Africa-UK AgriFood Innovation Online Missions brought to you by the GCRF AgriFood Africa Programme. These missions are our way of continuing progress for the programme in response to the Covid-19 situation which has prevented any face-to-face meetings between potential partners. We continue our efforts to build a community of stakeholders from numerous African countries and the UK, to realise sustainable management of the food production systems in Africa in a way that alleviates poverty, enhances economic prosperity and delivers improved well-being.
This week (1-5 June 2020), we focussed on a variety of morning and afternoon activities including an overview of the mission and the wider programme, funding mechanisms, the strategic importance of the AgriFood sector for countries within the region. We had a wide range of UK and African speakers including presentations from Wessel Lemmer, Agriculture Unit at ABSA Bank, South Africa and Kobus Pienaar, Technical Manager Food Security at Woolworths, South Africa.
Two networking sessions with Meeting Mojo available to help set up meetings with potential collaborators were held on Tuesday and Friday. The pitch sessions, where prospective partners provide 2-minute videos outlining their competencies and what they are look for in partners were well attended. We have also added an additional opportunity for Meeting Mojo and networking after the pitch sessions in weeks 2 and 3 as a result of the feedback received.
There was a lively Q & A panel to close the week with Mike Shaw (Wellspring Development) Kathryn Miller (Innovate UK) Rob Cannavo (South African Chamber of Commerce) and Melody Mentz-Coetzee (University of Pretoria).
KTN are pleased to announce next week’s panel as follows:
- Mike Shaw – Managing Director at Wellspring
- Calum Murray – Head of Agriculture and Food at Innovate UK
- Izael Da Silva – Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC), Research and Innovation at Strathmore University
- Nicholas Ambanya – Chief Production Officer at Twiga Foods
- Tristan Eagling – Regional Technical Adviser on Science, Technology and Innovation (East Africa) at DFID
A full programme agenda for week 1 can be found here.
We’d like to thank all the Speakers, Organisers and of course the Attendees!
So how can you access all of this fantastic online material?
We are live streaming our online missions, and also publishing recordings following the events to our dedicated YouTube and Facebook channels, click on the links below.
Do make sure you subscribe, like and follow our channels for up to date notifications of when new videos go live.
Agri-Tech Catalyst Funding Information
These countries were eligible for funding under the Agri-Tech Catalyst Round 9 competition and are likely to be included in Round 10 for Southern and Central:
Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Round 10 will be published later this year and we will announce the fund in due course.
What’s coming up in the forthcoming weeks?
The second and third weeks will provide further opportunities to engage with members of the GCRF AgriFood Africa programme. Our Keynote Speakers include Susie Kitchens, British Deputy High Commissioner for Kenya for Week 2, and Hon. Amie Fabureh, Minister of Agriculture of The Gambia for Week 3. There are also plenty of online networking opportunities and time for Q&A.
Similarly to the first week, there is also a Pitch Competition showcasing the talent of both UK and African partners. Members of the GCRF AgriFood Africa programme will vote for their favourite pitch and the winner of each session will get a spotlight across all KTN platforms, where they will be invited to pitch to increase their visibility and find new collaborations! The winner from Week 1 will be announced later this week on the KTN website.
To register for one or more regions, click on the links below:
Monday 8th June, Week 2 (Eastern region)
For Week 2 of our Online Mission, KTN are pleased to announce Keynote Speaker Susie Kitchens, British Deputy High Commissioner for Kenya speaking on the 8 June.
Monday 15th June, Week 3 (Western region)
For Week 3 of our Online Mission, KTN are pleased to announce Keynote Speaker Hon. Amie Fabureh, Minister of Agriculture of The Gambia speaking on 15 June.
Monday 13th July, Week 4 (Southern and Central regions) TBC
Monday 20th July, Week 5 (Eastern region) TBC
Monday 27th July, Week 6 (Western region) TBC
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter #agrifoodafrica
or
To find out more about the project and opportunities to get involved, please contact Jayne Brookman Tim Messeder; for general enquiries, please email gcrf.agrifood@iuk.ktn-uk.org.
Sign up to become a member of the GCRF Agrifood Africa Network.