Addis Ababa, February 24, 2023 (FBC) –The 8th Africa Day of School Feeding (ADSF) conference is scheduled to be held next week at the African Union Headquarters, in Addis Ababa.
The 8th Africa Day of School Feeding is aimed at heightening the importance of investing in school feeding programs, giving due consideration of backlogs created by COVID-19 pandemic, according to AU’s official statement.
The event will be held from February 27, 2023 to March 01, 2023 under the tune of “Boosting Local Food Procurement Systems and Regional Value Chains: The role of AfCFTA for Sustained Home-grown School Feeding Programmes and Improved Learning”.
It is organized by African Union through the Department of Education, Science, Technology, Innovation and AUDA-NEPAD, in Partnership with the World Food Programme, UNICEF, UNESCO, FAO, and AFECN, Nutrition International.
Keynote speakers at the conference include the FDRE President Sahle-Work Zewdie, Prof Mohammed Belhocine – African Union Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (ESTI), Ethiopian Minister of Education – Prof Berhanu Nega, Mayor of Addis Ababa City – Adanech Abiebie, and Mr. David Beasley, Executive Director – WFP, as well as Representative of other UN Agencies.
AU’s statement further indicates that High-Level ADSF Celebrations will also take place in Marrakech, Morocco, on 1st March.
“Aligning with the tune of the year 2023 of AU: “Acceleration of AfCFTA Implementation”, this year’s ADSF theme categorically states that school feeding is an investment, not mere spending of national resources. It buttresses the fact that school feeding has short, medium- and long-term dividends to our children, and income to local communities who produce and trade in the food systems. A dollar spent on school feeding is likely to generate more dollars”, says AU’s statement.
The event is expected to galvanize actions for speed and scale in transforming school meal programs in Africa to tackle the multiple crises and ensure that they are effective, efficient, and equitable through enhanced supply chains and procurement systems.
It is also believed that the conference will enable to take stock of the progress of ongoing initiatives at the continental, regional, and at national levels in implementing homegrown school feeding and encouraging national commitments towards the scale-up and quality improvement of school feeding programmes.
According to the statement, the event will also help to share knowledge of the immediate and potential dividends of homegrown school feeding as a result of shared experiences and research products.
It is also expected to be a platform to agree on priority actions to strengthen Home Grown School Feeding in Africa by effectively implementing the ACFTA, for consideration by the meeting of the Specialized Technical Committee on Education, Science, and Technology.