By Ndidi Nwuneli nnwuneli@leapafrica.org
At the beginning of this month, Sahel Consulting through its NourishingAfrica.com initiative created a series of weekly Covid-19 webinars focused on the effects of the pandemic on the African agriculture and food landscape. These webinars have brought in leading voices from across the Continent and beyond to share critical insights on how African governments and the international development community can support the agriculture and food ecosystem during this period, as well as how joint stakeholder efforts can help to build a resilient food system against future shocks in Africa. They have also provided very practical insights from the entrepreneurs in our ecosystem. They also partnered with the Inclusive Business Network (iBAN), SAFIN, and African Family Firms on the various webinars to ensure insights and experiences and to reach a wider audience. Click on the links below to listen to the recorded audio of the webinar:
- https://nourishingafrica.com/podcast/covid-19-and-the-food-sector-building-a-resilient- food-system-in-africa/
- https://nourishingafrica.com/podcast/covid-19-leveraging-innovation-and-technology-to- avert-a-looming-food-crisis-in-africa/
- https://nourishingafrica.com/podcast/covid-19-building-resilient-and-inclusive-agribusiness- models-in-africa/
Sahel Capital Agribusiness Managers also launched a COVID-19 webinar series featuring business leaders to share practical guidelines on how business owners can build resilient businesses in the midst of a crisis, with specific focus on the food and agriculture sector. On Tuesday 28th April, they will be discussing how agribusiness owners and managers can navigate workforce management during these times. Register to attend and listen to the recorded audio of their previous webinars by clicking here.
The Sahel Scholars Conference is a component of the annual Sahel Scholars Programme (SASP) introduced by Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited and Sahel Capital Agribusiness Managers Limited in 2017 with the aim to empower outstanding Nigerian students through conferences, internships, mentorship and scholarships. Every year, Sahel organizes conferences across selected universities in Nigeria and engages scholars to participate in a four-week internship, providing scholarship support for their final year of study. Given the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, they will host the Sahel Scholars Conference online this year on 6th May 2020 on the conference theme: ‘Leveraging Innovation and Technology to Enhance Food Security in Post COVID Nigeria’.
Nourishing Africa, a virtual home for entrepreneurs transforming the agriculture and food landscape across Africa, has created a ‘COVID-19’ page on its hub dedicated to sharing insights and experiences from entrepreneurs across Africa focusing on how their businesses are affected and the support they need. This is coupled with a ‘movement’ they have started on social media platforms celebrating heroic entrepreneurs who are still operating in this period, braving the odds to put food on all our tables while taking necessary precautions.
Nourishing Africa has also created a weekly newsletter that features agri-food actors across Africa, chronicling the impact of the pandemic on their activities. The newsletter also spotlights emerging stakeholder initiatives to support the sector at this critical time. You can sign up to receive this newsletter on The Nourishing Africa Hub.
