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Gambia chapter of Food Security Assembly to be launched on Friday

Oct 5, 2016, 10:34 AM | Article By: Abdoulie Nyockeh

Worldview The Gambia in collaboration with NACOFAG would host the launching of The Gambia chapter of the Ecosystem Based Adaptation for Food Security Assembly (EBAFOSA).

The launching is scheduled for Friday, 7 October 2016, at a hotel in Kololi under the theme: “Re-shaping Gambia food security through EBAFOSA’.

Briefing the media about the launching, chairman of the organising committee, Alieu Sowe, said EBAFOSA is the first inclusive pan-African policy framework and implementation platform. 

It is aimed at bridging gaps to ensure appropriate policies to tackle African challenges of food and nutrition insecurity, poverty and unemployment, climate change and environmental degradation.

Mr Sowe, who doubles as the coordinator of NACOFAG, said the launching is to promote EBAFOSA among national stakeholders in The Gambia, especially the government and policymakers, private sector, academia and research, international organisations, community organisations, civil society, NGOs and individual citizens.

He said the launching would galvanise country support for EBAFOSA activities among the stakeholders in The Gambia.

EBAFOSA was formed at the 2nd Africa Ecosystem Based Adaptation for Food Security conference organised by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in collaboration with the African Union Commission and partners in July 2015.

The 1,200 delegates in attendance from across Africa unanimously adopted the Nairobi Action Agenda, which gave birth to the establishment of EBAFOSA as the continental policy platform to foster and nurture partnership through branch formation in each African country.

According to Mr Sowe, EBAFOSA is the first inclusive pan-African policy framework that provides a platform for all stakeholders in the country to collaborate in developing and implementing policy solutions to upscale ecosystem-based adaptation driven agriculture.

He said EBAFOSA is to promote the use of innovative approaches that decentralises the development and application of the policy solutions to the grassroots in an inclusive, participatory way.

Membership of EBAFOSA is open to all who support ecosystem approaches to development.