Tunisians expect the Dakar-to-Africa Food Summit to be productive

Tunisia is quite interested in this week’s three-day Africa Food Summit, which is taking place close to Dakar, the capital of Senegal. The event features some of Tunisia’s top agricultural entrepreneurs.

During a pre-summit briefing with Mr. Abdelhalim Guesmi, director general of the Ministry of Agriculture, private sector participants in Tunisia’s cereal, olive, and poultry industries learned how the summit will bring together African heads of state and private sector partners to better use Africa’s agricultural and food potential.

Under the direction of the president of Senegal, Mr. Macky Sall, the summit has been jointly organized by the government of Senegal and the African Development Bank. Unleashing Africa’s food potential is its central focus. The Abdou Diouf International Conference Center in Diamniadio, close to Dakar, will be at the center of initiatives from January 25 to 27 to improve agriculture in Africa and build its resilience to the post-Covid-19 crisis, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the effects of climate change.

President Kais Saied will speak for Tunisia on behalf of the country’s minister of agriculture, water resources, and maritime fisheries, Mahmoud Elyes Hamza. Hamza will work to make it possible for the public and private sectors to work together well in the agricultural sector.

Tunisia hopes to assist sub-Saharan nations in developing their businesses by leveraging its globally renowned expertise in specialist sectors like olive, grain, and poultry. Last week, a pre-summit meeting was held at the regional office of the African Development Bank in Tunis. This showed how much interest there is in what might come out of the summit.

Since the Tunisian poultry business already ranks among the top six poultry sectors globally in terms of health standards and quality, poultry is one area that might have a significant impact, according to Mohammed Chikhaoui, managing director of the Poulina Group. He claimed that a sizable amount of foreign investment is being drawn there.

Chikhaoui declared: “In Africa, poultry has a bright future.” “Consumption has multiplied tenfold in the past ten years, and by 2031, the industry is predicted to grow by 30%.”

Another Tunisian company, Chahia, was ranked fifth globally for its quality standards, joining Poulina Group in the top six worldwide. Mr. Hichem Mami, its CEO, also attended the pre-summit gathering.

The Tunisian olive industry, which is eager to grow into African nations with favorable water resources and climates appropriate for olive production, is the second-largest producer of olives in the world after the European Union. Abdessalem Elwad, the CEO of Riviere d’Or and a member of the International Olive Council as well as a representative of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade, and Crafts, wants to start a pilot program in other African countries to find out where traditional Tunisian olive trees could be grown.

Abdelaziz Makhloufi, CEO of CHO Olive Producers, suggested creating public-private partnerships to evaluate olive tree cultivation on a large scale. A research study identifying prospective locations for olive tree production in Mauritania that could be used for that purpose was published in 2019 by the African Development Bank.

Operators in the cereal sector also agreed that large-scale pilots should be conducted.

Operators will have the chance to hold public-private talks on increasing grain output during the Dakar meeting. For example, the National Institute of Field Crops and the Tunisian Office of Cereals could collaborate with the African Development Bank and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco (both funded by the OCP Group) to support an international research program into unused crops and new cereal varieties. This would create a map of grain production potential for all of Africa.

Tunisia might start a research program on resilient cultivars that are well adapted to climate change, according to Mr. Mohammed Nadri, director general of the Central Co-operative of Wheat (COCEBLE), which represents 13,000 farmers who harvest 25% of Tunisia’s wheat crop. “Tunisia has the knowledge to assist other African countries in boosting their output,” Nadri remarked.

According to Mr. Abdelmonem Khlifi, the manager of STIMA, a company that makes cereals, Tunisia now has higher yields than Italy as a result of the revival of traditional types that the Romans once grew.

The Dakar to Africa Food Summit is this week, and according to Mr. Mohammed El Azizi, director general of the African Development Bank for North Africa, there will be a lot to talk about. At the briefing prior to the summit in Tunis, he stressed this. El Azizi stated: “The Dakar 2 conference will provide a definitive solution to the funding demands of the African agro-industry by bringing policy makers, industry experts, international organizations, and investors together at the same table.”