The Malabo Montpellier Forum provides a platform to facilitate dialogue and exchange among high-level decision-makers on African agriculture, nutrition, and food security and to promote policy innovation using evidence produced by the Malabo Montpellier Panel—a group of 17 leading African and international experts in agriculture, ecology, nutrition, and food security. The Forum Co-Chairs are H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn Boshe, Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and H.E. Dr. Assia Ben Salah Alaoui, Ambassador at Large to His Majesty King Mohamed VI of Morocco. The Forum meets twice a year, and every meeting is guided by a technical report prepared by members of the Malabo Montpellier Panel.
Themed “VALUE-UP: Policy Innovations to Advance Africa’s Agri-food Processing Sector for Growth, Jobs, and Health,” the Panel’s forthcoming report focuses on successful approaches, that is, institutional, policy, and technical innovations and programmatic interventions among African countries to boost the role of Africa’s agri-food processing sector in the transformation of agri-food systems. It reviews the potential contribution of the emerging agri-food processing sector to economic growth, challenges hindering the growth and sustainability of the sector, and opportunities to enhance the sector’s contribution to economic and food systems transformation. The report includes case studies on Ghana, Kenya, and Senegal, which have shown success and progress in the growth of their agri-food processing sector.
The Forum will consist of three parts: a technical part drawing on the report’s findings and recommendations, reflections on its lessons, and a high-level policy roundtable with senior representatives from African governments, the private sector, and development partners.