On 24 April 2023, a meeting was held between the African Union Special Envoy for Food Systems, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, with the IOFS Special Envoy for Africa, Mr. Said Hussein Iid, to explore areas of common interest for possible cooperation. The IOFS was also represented by the Team at the Secretariat composed by Dr. Zulfiqar Ali, Director of Programmes & Projects Department, Mr. Sofian Medded, Advisor at the Cabinet, Mr. Abdula Manafi, Advisor at Coordination & Cooperation Department, and Ms. Maral Imambayeva, Advisor at Country Office Department.
The meeting was critical for both sides to exchange views on each other’s respective mandates towards advancing food security and agricultural development agendas in Africa. The two sides understand that IOFS’s Africa Food Security Initiative (AFSI) and AU’s Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth are the basic frameworks through which the cooperation and coordination is to be built upon and to be institutionalized through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to be signed at the nearest opportunity.
Finally, the two sides agreed on roadmap with a dedicated timeline that would include technical consultations to draft the MoU, and the potential visit of the IOFS Director General, H.E. Prof. Yerlan Baidaulet, to the AU HQ in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.
