President Kagame and Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, speak during the Global Food Security Summit.
President Paul Kagame who is New York for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and a host of many side activities on Tuesday joined leaders from across the world for the Global Food Security Summit convened by Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, President Macky Sall of Senegal, who is also the Chair of the African Union (AU), Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to address global food challenges.
In what was a busy day in the ‘Big Apple’, characterised by productive meetings with global leaders, President Kagame said that there is no reason Africa should still be suffering food shortages given the immense resources the continent has.
The Head of State said that though in recent years, important steps have been taken to improve global food security, today the pandemic, ongoing conflicts, and rising temperatures are putting unusual pressure on food systems and reversing development gains, with the African continent bearing the brunt most.
“The impact is disproportionately felt in Africa. For our continent, one thing is clear. We must become more resilient and productive. This was emphasized at the AGRF Summit in Kigali earlier this month as well as the landmark United Nations Food Systems Summit last year,”
“In Africa, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program and the Malabo Declaration will remain our blueprint to transform agriculture. The African Continental Free Trade Area is anchored in each framework. Significant investment is needed in value addition and processing. This is an opportunity for investment and partnership with Africa,” President Kagame said.
“There is no reason why Africa should be experiencing food insecurity, given its natural advantages. We must act quickly, and decisively, to deliver measurable results on the ground,” President Kagame added.
On the sidelines of the meeting, President Kagame met and held talks with Charles Michel, the head of the European Council while earlier in the day he met with Mats Granryd, the Director General of the Global System for Mobile Communications. GSMA is set to hold the first Mobile World Congress (MWC) Africa in Kigali next month.
President Kagame is expected to address the UNGA.
European Council President Charles Michel
US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken
