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Zimbabwe will host the 31st Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Regional Conference in Victoria Falls next month.
Mrs Elizabeth Mpofu, an organic farmer and activist based in Masvingo, will be one of the three spokespersons for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) at the conference.
CSOs from 21 countries from across the continent met from Tuesday to Thursday last week to discuss topics pertinent to agriculture and food security, which will be delivered at the regional conference. The countries are Gambia, Senegal, Tunisia, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Niger, Chad, Congo Brazzavile, Togo, Nigeria, Mozambique and Zambia.
Apart from Mrs Mpofu, who is the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers Forum, the other two elected representatives of the 2020 consultation to the FAO Regional Conference are Christiana Louwa of the World Forum of Fisher People (Kenya), and Hammadou Gordi of Réseau Des Organisations Paysannes e Producteurs Agricoles de l’Africa de l’Ouest (Niger).
Said Mrs Mpofu: “Implementation is the key. It is up to us to make sure that recommendations of the meeting are fully implemented.
“We can pass on FAO recommendations to our governments, but if we are not involved in the implementation of the recommendations on the ground then we have done nothing.”
FAO assistant director-general Mr Abebe Haile-Gabriel said CSO were critical contributors to FAO’s discussions.
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