PENHA, in partnership with IIED, organised an event on Food We Want – Sustainable, Local, Fair project launch with a discussion on the challenges of food security in Africa. The panelists raised a number of critical bottlenecks of African smallholder producers and suggested implementable policy actions. 

Food security in developing countries in general, and Africa in particular, is being affected by the disempowerment of small scale producers, mainly farmers and pastoralists, and their exclusion from the development equation. Thus, the discussion, “Food Security in Africa: Critical Issues for Small Scale Producers,” was held by three distinguished and highly regarded panelists:  Dr. Michel Pimbert (Principal Researcher, Natural Resources Group, IIED), Micheline Ravololonarisoa (International Consultant and former Chief, Africa section, UNIFEM) and Dr. William Lume (Director, Centre for Inter-African Relations/CEFIAR and lecturer at London South Bank University). The discussion was chaired by Dr. Essam Yassin Mohammed (Researcher, Sustainable Markets Group, IIED and PENHA Trustee). Find attached below the brief report of the discussion in pdf format.