Background Information

1. African countries confront significant political, economic, social, and environmental constraints that negatively impact food production and, thus, food security. Despite the constraints, African countries are making some progress towards improving food security. These improvements include incremental food production and distribution through technological and infrastructural investments. As a result, several African countries have managed to enhance farming, agriculture, and food production.
2. However, Africa’s agricultural space requires enabling policy frameworks and technologically skilled human resources to strengthen the potentials of achieving food security through smart agriculture. Thus, policymakers and decision-makers need capacity strengthening, where required, to carefully tailor their STI-led agricultural policy frameworks towards meeting the population growth rate demands, reducing poverty and improving agricultural production capabilities.
3. The Calestous Juma Executive Dialogue on Innovation and Emerging Technologies (CJED) was established by AUDA-NEPAD in honour of the late Prof. Calestous Juma, who was the co-chair of the African Union High Level Panel on Emerging Technologies (APET) and a pioneer of science and technology in Africa.
4. The 4th CJED will focus on strategic innovation and emerging technologies for smart agriculture to strengthen Africa’s food security. As such, this executive dialogue will provide capacity strengthening of senior policy and decision-makers through the exchange of knowledge and national experiences, networking, experiencing diversity and building mutually beneficial relationships with a focus on emerging technologies in the 21st century suitable for sustainable Africa’s agriculture and food security.
5. The executive dialogue is relevant in addressing the challenges and opportunities that confront African countries by providing participants with a deeper understanding of the complexities of harnessing emerging technologies in Africa for smart agriculture and food security.
6. Hence, the 4th CJED purposes to graduate African leaders who think analytically about innovative emerging technologies in agricultural applications. Institutional strengthening will be an added benefit as institutions and organisations gain a critical mass of inspired and knowledgeable professionals who have a broad and holistic perspective on innovation and emerging technologies in agriculture.

The CJED Technical Working Group

The CJED Technical Working Group consists of 8 Technical Experts appointed to support the Calestous Juma Executive Dialogues held twice a year and support the implementation of its objectives. In particular, the members of the TWG shall:

1. Support the effective organisation of 2 CJED executive dialogues annually
2. Analyse whether and how the AUDA-NEPAD online platforms might be used to facilitate and improve the quality of AUDA-NEPAD CJED.
3. Analyse and identify opportunities to align AUDA-NEPAD CJED with other initiatives (such as CARI, APET, GCRF adolescent hub etc..) applicable to building a science culture in different African countries/regions.
4. Analyse, discuss, and develop new accreditation requirements for CJED.
5. Participating in stakeholder outreach and information-sharing forums, as possible.
6. Act as resource persons, where required, for the CJED executive dialogues

The CJED National Focal Points and Resource Persons

The main role of a CJED National Focal Points (NFP) or Resource Person (NRP) is to act as “catalyst” to assist the process of STI mainstreaming in the respective African Member States. While NFPs may be directly involved in implementing certain STI-specific activities of the CJED with NRPs, their contribution would focus on coordination and management of the CJED short courses in-country to identify strategies and work methods that will enable and build further the capacity of country stakeholders to integrate STI concerns into their own areas of work. NRPs would additionally focus on knowledge content generation and technical coordination to support capacity-building strategies of the CJED.