Simeon Ehui CGIAR SEMINAR SERIES Food Security Trends and Resilience-Building Priorities Co-organized by IFPRI, the CGIAR, and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) SEP 1, 2023 - 9:00 TO 10:30AM EDT

1. IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
Supporting
African-led
Resilience
Building
Simeon Ehui

2. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
We are in a race
against time on
food security.
Our task: We need to transform
and build resilience into food,
land, and water systems.
Our challenge: Climate change
is wreaking havoc on our food
systems.
www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.

3. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
• Around 250 million small-scale
African farmers, who operate
on plots smaller than one
hectare, play a crucial role in
sustaining the continent's food
supply by producing
approximately 70% of it.
• With the African population
projected to reach 2.5 billion by
2050, there is a pressing need
to enhance farmers’ capacity to
produce nutritious food and
meet the growing demands.

4. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
• CGIAR is addressing
challenges tied to climate
change to help achieve zero
hunger in Africa by 2030.
• CGIAR’s proven innovations
and commitment to using
research to improve food
systems transformation and
hence enhance the resilience
of the food system will be key
to resolving challenges.
www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.

5. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
• Science and innovation in
agriculture must be brought to
the forefront of Africa’s
development agenda as a
public good.
• There is a need to catalyze
stronger ties between CGIAR
scientists and researchers with
African food producers,
policymakers, private sector
leaders, community champions,
media, and other stakeholders
critical to the transformation of
African agriculture.
www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.

6. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
Solutions
1. We need to transform and build resilience into food,
land, and water systems.
2. CGIAR is working on long-term resilience solutions in
water, land, and food systems.
3. CGIAR is working on achieving zero hunger in Africa
by 2030 through strategic partnerships that deliver the
impact required.
4. Priority of African leadership: It’s critical for Africa’s
broader socioeconomic development that agriculture
adapts and becomes more resilient under climate
change.

7. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
What can we do?
1. Public policy reforms:
policies should support
climate smart agriculture
2. Strengthen market
functionality: make food
chains more resilient
3. Diversify assets: encourage
diversified and resilient
livelihoods
www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.

8. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
How do we make our food
systems more resilient?
1. Breakthroughs
• Climate-resilient maize grown in
13 African countries deliver 30%
more yield with 2.1 M people lifted
out of poverty
• Drought-tolerant rice have
increased yield by between 15%
and 24%
• Improved fodder technologies
increased milk production
www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.

9. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
• Emerging digital technologies
used to get the best
information to smallholders
on emerging climate threats
and what to do about them
• 7 million people in Senegal
have accessed our climate-
informed advisories, leading
to 10-25% increase in
incomes
• Developing drought
monitoring and early warning
systems
www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.

10. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
2. Delivery
• AICCRA Project (Accelerating
Impacts of CGIAR Climate Change
Research for Africa) scales CSA
and climate information services to
millions of farmers in Africa.
• It’s reached nearly three million
farmers so far, and has shown how
to work with an array of partners to
scale "climate-smart" agriculture,
utilizing the technologies, tools, and
training (and even TV shows)
needed to scale innovation.

11. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
• In Mali, for example, more than
100,000 rice farmers improved
yields (up 0.9 t/ha) and profits
(up $320/ha) and now apply
nutrients more efficiently
• Through training programs
delivered on a regional scale,
AICCRA has expanded access
to a state-of-the art seasonal
weather forecasting system
known as “NextGen” to 17
countries and the regional
climate centers.

12. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
3. Partnership
• TAAT (Technologies for African
Agricultural Transformation), a
muti-partner program, has
delivered climate-smart seeds to
12 million farmers in 27 countries
in 3 years,
• With FARA, accelerate the
generation and adoption of
climate-smart technologies and
innovations

13. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
• Aligning with African leadership
is best—to alleviate hunger and
the impact of climate change on
hunger, and meet the grand
ambitions of Agenda 2063
• CGIAR has transformed itself to
work more effectively. CGIAR
can make a difference!

14. www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
www.iita.org | www.cgiar.org
IITA is a member of the CGIAR System Organization.
4. Financials
• CGIAR needs help—with financing!
• CGIAR’s benefit-cost ratio is 10 to 1,
benefiting the most vulnerable,
including farmers!
Where will the money come from?
• Repurposing the use of existing
funding
• Policy reform to achieve subsidy
capital
• Unused Special Drawing rights of
wealthy nations
• Funding for climate change for
agriculture