Events

Accelerating Economic Transformation, Resilience, Diversification, and Job Creation

Supporting science-to-policy for sustainable agri-food systems across Europe and Africa Friday 27th of June, 12.45-14.00 FAO, Rome Background: Smart policies and technologies - intended as innovative tools and approaches to improve resilience and sustainability of agri-food systems - are key to achieve the objectives of the AU and EU sustainable agri-food system agendas. In this context, the Pan-African Network for economic Analysis of Policies (PANAP) was established at the end of 2019 under the aegis of the AU-EU partnership. The network brings together academic, research, and institutional partners that develop research on agro-economic and policy issues. PANAP’s objectives include to build capacity of African researchers to better analyse the impact of policies in the agri-food system, to bridge the gap between science and policymaking in Africa, to bring together researchers, scientists and policymakers in Africa and to foster scientific communities providing independent, evidence-based scientific support, data and information, and economic analysis to inform sustainable agri-food system policies. Both continents have recently reaffirmed their commitments to sustainable agri-food systems through strategic policy frameworks. The Kampala Declaration on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the EU’s Vision for Agriculture and Food lay clear the direction of each continent’s agri-food policy, […]

On 18 March 2026 from 09:00-13:00 CET, CORAF in collaboration with ECDPM is co-organising an online workshop with West African national agricultural research institutes aimed at strengthening the integration of scientific evidence into policy processes and bridging the gap between research and policy decision-making.This is a closed-door and invite-only event. Background The next few years will provide key opportunities to advance regional agricultural integration in West Africa, given the domestication of the CAADP’s Kampala Declaration, the implementation of the AfCFTA, and the new ten-year cycle of ECOWAP, among others. Regional agricultural integration is fundamental for West Africa to develop more resilient, sovereign, and productive agricultural systems and to attract the necessary finance for such development, both at the regional level (such as for regional corridors) and at the national level. Despite this potential, bridging the gap between scientific evidence and actionable policy remains an intricate challenge. While technical data is often abundant, it frequently fails to influence decision- making because scientists and decision-makers lack a common baseline. This disconnect is further exacerbated by "knowledge asymmetry," in which both groups use different vocabularies, follow conflicting timelines, and prioritise divergent priorities. Furthermore, traditional policy development commonly encounters "analytical blind spots," focusing strictly on technical […]