IOFS organized a two-day regional training workshop on strategic planning and policy development in food security in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Federal Republic of Nigeria with support of Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in Abuja, Nigeria from 21-22 December 2022.
The workshop brought together over 60 participants, including government officials from 13 OIC member countries in West and Central Africa, representatives of national research institutions, private sector and international organizations. It provided an interactive platform to discuss policy convergence and strengthen coordination at the regional and national levels for exchange and accumulation of the OIC Member States’ experience in food security governance, developing coherent policy frameworks and resilient inter-sectoral government systems.
The Agenda began with an opening address of the Honorable Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria delivered by the Permanent Secretary Dr. Ernest A. Umakhihe, the welcoming speech of H.E. Mr. Mamadou Alpha Bah, Acting Director of Regional Hub of Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in Abuja and keynote speech of H.E. Prof. Yerlan A. Baidaulet, Director General of IOFS who welcomed the participants of member states and hosting country of Nigeria to the IOFS-organized activity, gave an overview of IOFS strategic programs and highlighted the urgency of improving policies, programmes and interventions for addressing food insecurity problems, promote the responsive agriculture and enhance the sustainable food systems within OIC geography.
The workshop was contributed with informative presentation dedicated to the IOFS Program on “Food Security Governance” and importance of institutional framework and policy coherence in food security, as well as experience of governments of OIC countries in governing national food systems, in particular, i) national experience of Nigeria in food security governance; ii) National Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Inter-sectoral coordination & monitoring in Bangladesh; iii) Policy reforms and supply security governance in Turkiye Republic.
Subsequently, the event was enriched with presentations of international organizations. Namely, the expert of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) shared the IFPRI’s experience in implementation of Strategy Support Program for food security and agricultural development in Nigeria and National policies and strategies for food, land and water systems transformation. Another contribution was of the expert of Permanent Interstate Committee for drought control in the Sahel (CILSS) who familiarized participants with Progress on Food and Nutrition Security Policies and Strategies in CILSS area. Also the expert of Hamad Bin Khalifa University elaborated on policy options to manage the dynamics of food-water-energy nexus in a desert climate, especially in Middle East countries.
It shall be emphasized that the first day of the event was greatly supported content-side with experience of hosting country of Nigeria in various segments of food security strage and governance domain. Particularly, national experts shared the Nigerian experience in the development and implementation of National Multi-sectoral Plan of Action for Food & Nutrition (NMPFAN) 2021-2025 and Policy reforms to agricultural development in Nigeria. In addition, representatives of Nigerian national institutions shared on significance of biodiversity in food security, such as Seed Bank Development in Nigeria, Genetic Resources Conservation for Food & Nutrition Security in Nigeria, as well as Needs for implementation of Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Cassava production in Nigeria.
The first day of the workshop had a special outcome emphasizing the importance of multi-stakeholder and participatory approach within the designing of food security policies, necessity of strengthening the strengths of national agricultural potential, and ensure the proper implementation and monitoring of the impact of applied strategies by member countries.
