Women at the Heart of Africa's Food Security Transformation (CSW70 Side Event)

We are at a crucial time. We are almost nearing 2030, and the trajectory of the Sustainable Development Goals remains a cause for concern. The world still has 688 million undernourished people in 2023 and 673 million in 2024. In Africa, more than one in five Africans suffers from hunger. Projections indicate that by 2030 nearly 512 million people will remain chronically undernourished and nearly 60% of them will be in Africa.

These figures demonstrate the scale of the challenge. Yet Africa has extraordinary assets. It possesses about 65% of the world's uncultivated arable land and enjoys 300 days of sunshine per year. Despite this potential, Africa remains a net food importer and spends more than $43 billion annually on net food imports. There are multiple the growing impacts of climate change, an alarming shortfall in development financing, and geopolitical tensions and conflicts that disrupt food supply chains.

In addition to these structural and cyclical factors, persistent inequalities limit smallholder farmers access to inputs, credit, and training. Yet transformation is possible. We must promote local processing, develop sustainable value chains, and strengthen regional markets. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement AFCFTA provides a vital framework for boosting intra African trade and creating opportunities for young people and women. Affordable and sustainable access to fertilizers combined with soil friendly practices must become a priority.

Restoring the fertility of African soils and increasing yields is a prerequisite for reducing hunger and malnutrition. In this transformation, women's empowerment is a decisive enabler. Women represent a vital part of the agricultural workforce and play a central role in food production, processing, and distribution of food, giving them equitable access to land, financing technologies, fertilizers, and training is essential for sustainability, sustainably improving productivity, and ensuring the resilience of food systems. It is also crucial to invest in targeted programs that facilitate women's participation in markets, encourage their entrepreneurship, and promote women's integration into regional value chains beyond the continent. The transformation of food security in Africa is a global issue.

Ensuring food security in Africa is an essential prerequisite for achieving the sustainable development goals worldwide. Under the high instructions of His Majesty King Mohammed vi, the Kingdom of Morocco considers food security a strategic priority. Driven by this vision, our country has adopted the Generation Green 2020-23-30 strategy and continues to strengthen its Green Morocco Plan as well as the National Blue Economy Strategy. Our south, south and Triangular cooperation are also part of this dynamic. The Ministry of Foreign affairs oversees the implementation of this vision.

The Ministry of Agriculture develops appropriate policies and the OCP Group acts as the operational army. The AAA Initiative for the Adaptation of African Agriculture to Climate Change, launched by Morocco at COP22, has already supported several African countries and the Triple S Initiative aims to strengthen sustainability, stability and security in Africa. These initiatives and many others demonstrate that innovative and collaborative partnerships bringing together public institutions, the private sector and international organizations are essential to unlocking the potential of African agriculture. Today, our meeting must amplify the voices of African women and highlight practical solutions. I invite you to share your experiences, identify innovative approaches and strengthen our synergies to transform African food systems into engines of prosperity, social justice and sustainability excellence.

Give floor to the panelists for introducing keynotes. The first one and I have now the pleasure to introduce our first keynote speaker, His Excellency Lok Bahadur Tapa, Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United nations and President of the 2026 session of the Economic and Social Council. Under his leadership and as the ECOSOC celebrates its 80th anniversary, the council continues to strengthen its mandates enshrined in the UN Charter and reinforce system wide dialogue and cooperation across the UN system and with all stakeholders including civil society and international financial institutions, ensuring that global efforts remains focused on accelerating progress towards sustainable development. Ambassador Dapa, you have the floor. Thank you.

Thank you Ambassadors Omar Ilali and Excellencies, distinguished delegates, Dear colleagues, it is a pleasure to join you today at this very important event. I thank the organizers, my colleagues Omari Lalib, Permanent Representative of Morocco and for all others you know organizers for organizing this excellent event as well as providing me with this opportunity. Colleagues, Agri food transformations is critical for economic growth, for sustainability and for human dignity. For this reason is the President of the Economic and Social Council. I have given these issues one of my priorities and similarly, women's empowerment is central to achieving food security everywhere, but especially in Africa.

According to the food and agriculture organizations in sub Saharan Africa, women make up nearly half of agri food system workforce, the highest share of any regions worldwide. Women's labor is essential at every stage of food production. Women account for 43% of those working agriculture and 63% of farm agri food workers contributing across the entire value chains of the agri food system from production and processing to distributions, consumptions and packaging. 8 Despite their indispensable role, women continue to face systemic barriers from limited access to land, to technology and finance to their over representations in the informal sector where insecurity, low wages and the absence of the social protections remain the norm. Excellencies colleagues to better support women and elevate their contributions to agri food systems.

We need to adopt gender responsive policy frameworks that promote women leadership, that strengthen governance and that encourages innovations in the agri food sector. Second, ensuring adequate financing is critical to allow women to respond to immediate food emergencies while also driving long term transformations of food systems. Third, we must expand social protection schemes so that women, especially those in informal agri food economies, can safeguard their livelihoods. And last, we need to foster and deepen partnerships, strengthening knowledge sharing and promoting peer learning so that innovations are adapted to each country's needs and realities. The African Union's Kampala Cutoff Strategy and Action Plan 2635 provides a shared vision for advancing these goals, but we must deliberate and precise on ensuring that women and gender equality are at the core of the implementations.

Dear colleagues, at the ECOSOC Special Meeting on Agri Food System Transformations held February 16th last month, I underscore the importance of finance and entrepreneurship, innovations and technology for advancing country led transitions. None of this can be achieved without women's empowerment and gender equality driving the change. A call to actions has been issued as an outcome of the special meeting outlining key actions to advance agri food transformations. Today let us commit to identifying practical and concrete steps that place women firmly at the center of Africa's food security agenda. We have the tools now we need decisive action.

I look forward to hearing from the distinguished panels and working closely with all of you in the months ahead. I thank you so much.

Thank you dear Ambassador Thapa, for your inspiring remarks. And now I have the Honor to invite Ms. Seema Bahus, under Secretary General of the United nations and executive director of UN Women. Ms. Bahurs, you champion gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls worldwide. We look forward to hearing your insights and perspectives on how strengthening women's leadership, rights and economic opportunities can accelerate progress forward system Transformation in Africa Dear sister, the floor is yours. Thank you, dear brother.

Your Excellency, Omar Hilali, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations. Your Excellency, Locke Bahadur Thapa, Permanent Representative of Nepal and President of the 2026 session of ECOSOC. Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, good morning to you all. It is an honor to join you today and allow me to begin by expressing heartfelt appreciation to the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco for convening us around this very important topic. Morocco's leadership in placing women at the center of Africa's food security and agri food transformation is not only deeply valued, it is urgently needed.

You remind us that progress is possible when vision meets commitment. Africa stands At a pivotal moment, as the horizon of 2030 draws near, food insecurity, climate volatility and persistent inequalities challenge the achievements so many have fought to secure. Yet even in the face of these headwinds, Africa's greatest source of strength endures its ingenuity and its resilience. And above all, its women. They are the custodians of our communities, the drivers of economies and the quiet architects of tomorrow's food systems.

In sub Saharan Africa, women make up nearly 50% of the agricultural labor force. If women farmers had the same access to productive resources as men, farm yields could increase by 20 to 30%. That is a direct increase in the national economy. So investing in women is investing in prosperity. Excellencies across the continent, from the shimmering oasis of North Africa to the fertile fields of sub Saharan Africa, women sustain the heartbeat of agriculture.

They cultivate preparation, process, trade and innovate. They safeguard biodiversity, nourish families and power rural markets, often while carrying the heaviest burdens, from unpaid care to restricted access to land, finance and technology. These barriers are not incidental or inevitable. They are structural and they hold back entire societies. If we are truly committed to transforming Africa's food systems, and then we must begin by transforming the conditions under which women live and lead.

There is no food security without gender equality. There is no climate resilience without women's full participation. And there is no sustainable development without the voices, the rights and leadership of Africa's women and girls at the very center Excellencies UN Women is proud to partner with governments and communities across Africa to lift these barriers. Together we are advancing women's land and inheritance rights, supporting their leadership in agricultural value chains, strengthening climate smart and biodiversity, preserving livelihoods and expanding access to finance and markets. We see every day how women's leadership multiplies impact, creating better harvests, stronger households and more resilient communities.

In North Africa, these efforts are reinforced by policy and legal reforms that acknowledge women not simply as contributors, but as indispensable actors in rural transformation. Nowhere is this clearer than in Morocco, where the remarkable mobilization of the Sulilayed women standing together across generations in helped drive reforms ensuring women's equal rights to collective land, revenues and allocations. Their achievement is a powerful reminder. When women organize, when they raise their voices, when they are heard, transformation follows. Morocco's leadership lights a path for the continent.

Across sub Saharan Africa, we witness similar momentum. Women smallholder farmers are pioneering climate resilient techniques, building thriving enterprises, using digital tools to access new markets and sharing their innovations across regions through south south cooperation. Their success stories demonstrate a simple truth. When women farmers have equal access to the resources they need, entire communities rise with them. But to unlock this potential at scale, we must act with urgency and unity.

Today I call on all partners here to do three things. Governments, regional bodies, financial institutions and the private sector. First, let us invest boldly in women farmers ensuring they have equal access to land, finance, technology and climate smart innovations. Second, let us advance legal reforms that secure women's rights and dismantle discriminatory barriers. Third, let us scale women led solutions ensuring that the models thriving in one region inspire transformation across the continent.

UN Women Excellencies stands ready alongside Morocco and all our partners across Africa to help catalyze this change. Together we can build food systems that are inclusive, climate resilient and driven by the leadership of the women who have always sustained them. Thank you.

Thank you so much dear and the Secretary General and Director, Executive Director of UN Women, my dear sister Dima Bahous for your very inspiring speech and very insightful comments on the role of women and how when we give chance to women, they succeed whenever we put them in responsibility. Thank you to both of our keynote speakers for setting the stage. Your messages highlight how women's empowerment and inclusive climate resilient agriculture go hand in hand. We will now turn to our multi stakeholders panel to dive deeper into practical solutions and partnerships. Our panel brings together key entities of United nations system, private sector representative from Morocco, OCP Africa and the World Bank.

After this intervention, we will hear from member states and I would like to thank all my colleagues who are here who will present their perspective of their own countries and the audience in the room to highlight African experience and success stories from the floor. Our first panelist is my dear Dimal Khatib, Director of the United Nations Office of South Sava South Cooperation. Mrs. Al Khattib, thank you for joining us. Based on your close and fruitful cooperation with African countries, please tell us how south, south and Triangle Cooperation is scaling up Women Centered Agriculture Initiative in the context of the African continent. Please.

Thank you, Excellency, Excellencies and distinguished colleagues. It is a privilege to join you this morning to highlight women's role in strengthening Africa's food security transformation and to reflect on how south, south and Triangle cooperation can help advance this transformation. Let me start by commending the Kingdom of Morocco for placing women at the heart of Africa's food security agenda, especially the smallholder farmers who produce much of the continent's food and and sustains household nutrition. And I'd like to thank Ambassador Hilali for his steady leadership and advocacy on women's empowerment and its centrality to sustainable development, including in his role as President of the United Nations High Level Committee on South South Cooperation. And with this event, Morocco is drawing attention to a persistent challenge.

Women, as has been rightly said, contribute about 50% to global food production and up to 80% in rural Africa. Yet African women remain more food insecure than men, facing nearly 27% greater risk of hunger. This has often been described as a paradox and that those who produce food are the most likely to go hungry, especially in a region such as Africa, which is very rich in natural resources and home to more than 60% of the world's uncultivated arable land, as mentioned by His Excellency Omar Hilali. But for women across Africa, this is not a paradox. It is inequity.

Structural barriers and discriminatory norms continue to limit women's access to land, finance, markets and services. And much of the labor remains invisible and unpaid. And allow me to raise also here, three reflections. First, the urgency food insecurity in Africa is worsening under the pressure of conflicts, climate shocks, economic disruptions and declining development assistance. And more than 700,000 people facing famine are in conflict zones, with women among the most vulnerable.

At the same time, the continent holds vast agricultural potential, natural resources and human capital. The challenge is how to unlock it, And I think Mrs. Bahous has mentioned several calls for action. Second is the untapped potential. Africa still imports a large share of its basic food needs and strengthening domestic and regional agricultural system is therefore essential. And this transformation must start with those who already sustain food systems.

Women farmers. Yet women smallholder farmers face persistent barriers. The limited access to land, to finance, to technology, to markets. And despite the growing awareness, only a small share of agricultural policies explicitly address gender equality. The cost of this exclusion is enormous, not only for women, but for food systems, for economies and global development.

And third, the solutions already exist across the Global south and Sioux, south south and Triangle Cooperation countries are sharing practical experiences that help women farmers overcome these barriers. For us and through the trust funds that we manage at the United Nations Office for South South Cooperation. Thanks to southern countries like India, Brazil, South Africa, China, among others, partners are mobilizing knowledge, tools and resources for communities across Africa. For example, through the IPSA Fund that we manage in South Sudan, women and youth are gaining skills, irrigation systems and access to markets, strengthening livelihoods and recovery. In the Gambia, training and food processing is helping reduce post harvest losses and support new agribusinesses and opportunities.

In Liberia, initiatives are advancing gender responsive governance and expanding women's economic opportunities. And in Gabon, projects are modernizing cassava productions while supporting women led cooperatives. These are examples and they are demonstrations of south south cooperation. But of course what is important is the scalability, taking that to scale with investments and proper policies that will make it happen across the continent. And the message is clear.

Women farmers are not asking for handouts. They are asking for fair access to opportunity, for fair access to finance, for fair access to technology and to markets. And policies of course, that recognize their central role. Under our new strategic framework for 2026, 2029, our office, the United Nations Office for South South Cooperation, is strengthening partnerships across the UN system and with countries of the global south to expand the adoption and the scalability of these solutions. And because as everybody was saying, women when women farmers succeed, the food systems become stronger and communities become more resilient and development becomes much more inclusive.

And we stand ready to continue and work with all of you to advance this agenda. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, dear Director of the United Nations Office for South South Cooperation and thank you also for your permanent cooperation with the Chair of the Commission of South South Cooperation. Your help, your assistance and support of your team helped me in assuming my responsibility. Now I turn to Ms. Angelica Gcombe, Director of Food and Agriculture Organization Liaison Office in New York. Ms. Gcombe, thank you for joining us. Drawing from your rich experience, we invite you to share perspectives on advancing the full participation of women in agri food systems in African context.

Please thank you Excellency Omar Hilal, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco and to the Permanent Representation for shedding light on this very important topic. I would also like to appreciate our long standing partnership with the Kingdom of Morocco and in particular our collaboration with the International Day of Argania. And I'll mention other other collaborations as we go through the intervention. As a knowledge organization, I'd like to set the scene with a few data points that stemming from our status of women in Agri Food Systems in Sub Sahara, which builds on our 2023 seminal report on the status of agri food systems. Agri Food Systems is the main employer in Sub Saharan Africa, particularly for women.

Women in Sub Saharan Africa comprise nearly half of the total agri food systems workforce, the largest proportion of any region. Three out of four working women or 76% engage in agri food systems. Women also make up 43% of those working in agriculture and 63% of off form agri food systems workers. Much of this work is informal. Around 90% of the women in the region are working in this sector.

This results in modest remuneration, limited or no social protection and women facing occupational risks. In addition, as highlighted by many others, women in Africa often lack access to land, finance technologies, markets and services to unlock their full potential and fully participate in the agri food systems. Moreover, the State of food security and nutrition in the World 2025 noted that while global hunger has slightly declined, this has not been even across all regions and in Africa, hunger has risen. Sub Saharan Africa is also among the regions with the highest prevalence of anemia among women from 15 to 49 years old. So all this to say that this issue of women in Africa being at the heart of agri food systems transformation to guarantee food security and nutrition is very important.

As I mentioned the report of Status of Women in Agri Food Systems in Sub Saharan Africa, it highlights a series of recommendations to increase women's full and inclusive participation in the agri food system in the interest of time. I'll mention a few, but I note that many of them have been mentioned by others. It's just probably much more eloquently than I will be able to so first of all, enacting policies and focusing investments for women to access secure and decent employment, incorporating equality between men and women and women's empowerment in food security, nutrition policies, plans and programs enhancing women's participation and decision making at all levels. This comes goes from the household up to government, strengthening women's groups and fostering collective action. I think this is a great example of us doing that right now and strengthening their capacity for innovation.

On this last point, I'd like to end a little bit on an optimistic note, highlighting an upcoming initiative in support of enhancing young women's capacity for innovation in Morocco. Fao, through its World Food Forum Global Youth Action Initiative, will launch the Youth Food Lab in Morocco dedicated entrepreneurship program for young rural women. The Youth Food Lab is an incubator model that empowers young innovators from all backgrounds to develop education at scale sustainable solutions to transform agri food systems to be more resilient, inclusive and future ready business models. The program brings in a variety of stakeholders including governments, non governmental organizations and academic institutions such as Wageningen University and Research and Penn State University and will provide tailored capacity development, entrepreneurship and financial training, digital skills, drought responsive sustainable land management practices, agriculture, mentorship and access to micro grants and finance. To close, I wish to draw your attention to the fact that we're currently observing the International Year of the Woman Farmer.

This year is an important opportunity to reflect on the challenges faced by women globally and in Africa and to identify opportunities and partnerships to drive the change required for women to fully participate in agri food systems and reap the multiple benefits from this participation from improved food security and nutrition to resilience to overall economic development. As an international community, it behooves us to seize the momentum of the International Year of the Women Farmer to translate our commitments into action and deliver for women in Africa and the world. Truly leaving no one behind. Thank you.

Thank you very much to Ms. Angelica for your presentation and especially the contribution and participation of if I owe to the food security, particularly in Africa. Now I have the pleasure to give the floor to Ms. Cynthia Samuel Olanjuon, Special Representative of the International Labor Organization to the United nations and director of ILO New York office. Ms. Samuel Olanjeon, you have a large experience anchored in the African continent in previous capacity as the ILO Regional Director for Africa. Please share with us the ILO's perspective on how decent work and gender responsive labor policies support small holders African women farmers and link agriculture to job creation. My sister,

thank you very much, Excellency, my brother, Ambassador Hilali and excellences, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, friends. First, let me thank the Kingdom of Morocco for organizing this very important conversation and bringing so many stakeholders together to bring their different perspectives. But I also want to use this opportunity to once again congratulate the Permanent representative of the Kingdom of Morocco, Ambassador Hilali, for the excellent work that was done with the co facilitation of the Second World Summit for Social Development and delivering a political declaration that was adopted by consensus in this kind of an environment. So thank you so very much my brother. I love the theme.

It says women at the heart of Africa's Food Security transformation. If the heart is sick, what happens to the body? From all the data that have been presented by all those who spoke before me, there is a problem with the heart and the problem with the heart has resulted in what we're seeing in terms of food security transformation in Africa. You've asked me to talk not in my current capacity, but in my previous capacity as the Regional Director for Africa. But I'll situate this within the context of all the information that has been provided.

Thanks to our colleagues from FAO and all the in terms of the data, women are significant in terms of the workforce, but unfortunately a lot of women are in precarious work largely in informality. They're underpaid, they're under recognized, they're undervalued. Even in terms of statistics. What we have may not necessarily reflect the accurate situation because of the situation with women. So that's really important.

And I think it was my colleague from the South South Cooperation office that said it's instructive that those who produce our food are largely the most food insecure. That shows that the heart has a big problem. And until we solve the problem of the heart, we will not be able to address the issue now from the descent work perspective. And what is the ILO doing? Transforming Africa's food system requires transforming the conditions of work within them.

If we want resilient food systems, if we want food security transformation, with the heart functioning as it should, we must promote dissent work in agriculture. Women in agriculture need dissent work. When this happens, productivity rises, rural labor markets become more dynamic and inclusive. And young women are particularly important in this conversation. When we invest in access to decent employment opportunities for young women, free from violence and harassment, we have food security, but we end up breaking the intergenerational cycle of gender inequality and vulnerability.

At the global level. The ILO has adopted a policy guideline for the promotion of descent work in agri food sector. And this provides governments, employers, workers with a comprehensive framework to ensure that agri food systems are not only productive and sustainable, but they're equitable and rights based. This means that investing in employment promotion that creates quality jobs for women, skills upgrading that enables them move from subsistence farming to higher value agricultural activities, extending social protection. The president of Ecosocial really focused on this and ensuring that care responsibilities are effectively addressed while also strengthening dialogue so that women farmers and workers can shape the policies that affect them over the past years, and this is where I go back to my previous life in Africa.

Over the past years in Africa, the ILO, in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development, implemented a project we call Pro Agro Youth. And this project focuses on boosting youth employment, particularly for young women. And the program focuses on creating more and better jobs in agribusiness by combining skills development, enterprise support and labor market interventions. These interventions help one skills upgrading that enables them move from subsistence farming to higher value agricultural activities.

As well as increasing women's productivity and their earnings, expanding their access to formal and semi formal employment, strengthening their resilience to economic and climatic shocks, and positioning them as leaders in rural transformation. By doing so, the program not only supports individual women, but also contributes to more inclusive and dynamic rural economies. What have we seen when these investments are made and productivity improves, they grow and they hire. When women workers receive targeted support, including appropriate skills development, they move into higher value roles and they create jobs that themselves. When value chains are strengthened, agriculture becomes a driver of rural employment, not just subsistence.

And it helps to move rural economies from being centers of miseries to centers of wealth creation. Third, and my last point, we need to turn political commitments into practical solutions. As I made reference earlier, the Second World Summit for Social Development has the outcome of the Doha Political Declaration. And this political declaration calls for policies that ensures women's economic empowerment, including in rural areas, and emphasizes equitable access to land, water and other productive resources and recognizes their vital role in food security and inclusive rural development. All this shows that partnerships are crucial.

No one institution can do it alone. And we have to come together, bring our diverse trends, bring our diverse assets to make sure that we're able to support women and provide the necessary support to Member States to move the needle significantly so that the heart, which is women at the heart of Africa's food security transformation will work effectively. The ILO stands ready to work with governments, with employers, with workers, organizations, with UN partners, the World bank, fao, all the UN women and all the bodies here. We stand ready to partner to ensure that Africa's food security transformation is also a transformation towards the decent work, gender equality and social justice. I thank you,

Thank you very much, dear Cynthia, for your vibrant testimony from your own experience in Africa and also from what ILO is doing now and the challenges for all the women around the world. I would like also to thank you for your cooperation during the negotiation of the Social Summit process. Thanks a lot.

I'm now pleased to introduce our fourth panelist subsidiary of the OCP Group. It's OCP Africa, represented by its Managing Director, Ms. Aja Al Afifi. OCP Africa is particularly active in more than 40 African countries with programs reaching over 4 million smallholder farmers across the continent. As a reminder, the OCP Group, based in the Kingdom of Morocco and with over a century of expertise, is a global leader in phosphates and plant nutrition solutions. The OCP Group's commitment at the national, regional and global levels aims to unlock the full potential of Moroccan phosphates, supports farmers and communities, particularly in Africa, in order to sustainably improve agricultural yields while preserving the environmental and strengthening food security.

Ms. Haja, please explain how this commitment aligns with the ambition to support Africa's transformation into a true agricultural powerhouse. Recognizing the central role of women, who represent more than half of the continent's agricultural workforce and are A key driver of food system development. Ms. Hajar, you have the floor.

Thank you. Excellencies, distinguished guests and partners. Let me take you somewhere. It's in rural Africa. There's a woman this morning.

She has gone to her land. She was carrying tools and she was carrying her child on her back. This very woman has the responsibility of feeding her family. She has gone to her land, she nurtured the soil, and by the end of the day, she has helped feed an entire continent. In many ways, this woman will never have a chance to stand on a stage like this.

But today, this conversation is really about her. It's truly an honor to be here today. I would like to thank the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Morocco for convening this side event on the margins of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I also would like to thank all the UN agencies here present, permanent representatives, partners who are all contributing to this important discussion. We all have said it.

Moments like this matter because they remind us of something essential. Allow me to say, African women are no longer waiting to be invited to leadership. We already are here. And nowhere is this more visible than in agriculture, where we produce up to 70%. More than 70% of the food we consume on the continent is produced by women.

Yet we all have said it. Millions of these women face structural barriers to land, finance, inputs and markets. So when we talk about gender equality, we must also speak about economic opportunity. And when we speak about food inclusion, we also must speak about women farmers. Africa holds extraordinary potential.

Vast arable land, abundant renewable energy, and above all, a young and dynamic population. But we face significant gaps. Declining soil fertility, rising food imports, and persistent gender inequalities. Closing these gaps is a matter of justice. Actually, it's also the right way to close.

On our SDGs number 2, 5, 8 and 13, I'd like to share with you some of the advancements we have made at OCP Group. Today, a little over one third of our top management positions are held by women, and we are working towards 50% by 2030. Together with the African Development bank, we have launched We Progress, a program supporting women leadership in industrial and STEM careers. Our objective there is to create the new top hundred women leaders in Africa. Closer to home.

At OCP Africa, our mission and our ethos is to support farmers and as His Excellency has said, specifically small holder farmers with the right solutions, with the right knowledge, the right partnership to build productive and inclusive food systems. We have chosen to focus on three areas where we see real food Scalable Impact. The first one expanding access to inputs and training. We have developed programs such as agribooster and School labs where we are training millions of farmers to good practices, to better use of soil, to customize solution and we are trained in them through climate smart farming practices. Already many women have improved their yield through balanced fertilization and better agronomic practices.

These efforts are complemented by what we do in Morocco through Al Mutmer which empowers rural women with tools, knowledge and digital advisory support. The program has already reached more than 4,000 women farmers. We've engaged with more than 400 cooperatives, 200 young women leaders have been trained and about 26 women have risen their own retail and speaking about entrepreneurship, this is exactly our second focus. To support women entrepreneurship and market access, I'll come with concrete examples. In Senegal we have created what we call the Women House.

The Women House in St Diarra has already reached more than 2,500 women and we are counting by the day. The Women House is a place of transformation where impact happen. We give them access to training, we improve productivity with them and the idea there is to transform their harvest to value added market opportunities. We also have programs such as FAM Impact in Senegal and in Cote d' Ivoire where we are strengthening the ecosystem working end to end on the value chain which with women entrepreneurs, incubators, startups, regional networks and as we say, it takes a community to make a change and that's our belief. Our third pillar is science is innovation and the South South Cooperation.

Across OCP Group Innovation Ecosystem we continue to develop soil mapping, digital agronomy, crop management and customized fertilizer solutions. These innovations and partnership cannot go without the partnership of many of the partners here today to whom we would like to extend our thanks such as the fao, the UN Women, the Office of the South South Cooperation, the World bank, the Office of the Special Advisory on Africa and many other companies and organization with like minded objectives. The South South Cooperation plays a key role in scaling solutions across Africa and make African leadership rise. Excellencies and colleagues at OCP Africa, we are proud to stand with these women. We are these women.

We stand with our partners across the UN system and we commit to continue scale and to drive this transformation. I think you guys have said it in a much more eloquent way. We need to change policies and investment framework. We want equal access to land rights, digital tool and finance services to women. Second, finance needs to move from micro financing to blended finance.

We want women to benefit not as Beneficiaries, but we need to make them righteous. Thirdly, stronger collaboration with the UN system. We count on this partnership and the together force to make the change happen. So I'll conclude by saying our responsibility, your excellency is clear to free these women from all the barriers and to expand for them the opportunities that rise. Because when women rise, food systems become stronger and when women lead, entire societies can move forward.

Thank you very much.

For your very riches of your contribution and the role of OCP is playing in Africa. I would like now to give the floor to Ms. Maria Dimitrido, who is special representative of the World bank to the United Nations. Ms. Maria, can you outline how the World bank is supporting women led investment in climate resilient agriculture and women led entrepreneurship in Africa, Please?

Thank you very much, Ambassador Hilale, for your leadership and the kind invitation. And to you, Ambassador Thapa, for your leadership on agriculture.

It's a great pleasure to be here, very important event. But if you want to make me really happy, that's the way to put me among sisters from partner organizations. So thank you very much for that. I will not repeat end of business. Of course I will not repeat the excellent points of the previous speakers, but I will build on them.

From an economic standpoint, gender inequality is a misallocation of resources. So when women cannot invest or scale production, the entire food system operates below its potential frontier. And the same applies to opportunities, access to market training, technology and leadership. So advancing gender equality in agriculture strengthens food systems by increasing productivity, improving resilience to climate shocks and expanding access to better jobs across agri food value chains. My colleague Cynthia elaborated on that.

What we do at the World Bank Group, the 242030 strategy prioritizes expanding women's opportunities and leadership. Its implementation plan sets ambitious targets by 2030, including 80 million more women with access to capital, 300 million more women using broadband, and 250 million women benefiting from social protection programs. I hope. Ambassador Tapo, I'm responding to the four points you made. The fourth one being partnership.

I'll come back to that. These are all core enablers for women farmers and women led agribusiness. Now, a key lesson that we have learned from World bank operations in agriculture and food is that women's economic empowerment requires bundled solutions, integrated solutions, not single interventions. We do that in three mutually reinforcing ways. Strengthening women's agency, expanding access to resources, improving the enabling context.

I totally agree with the points made by colleagues on policies. We need policies and actions that transform not only women's livelihoods but the productivity and resilience of entire agri food systems. We cannot separate the two. At the same time, the private sector has a critical role to play in driving inclusive agri food value chains. Agriconnect, the World bank group's initiative to transform smallholders farming, create jobs and strengthen global food security provides a major platform for scaling these approaches and bringing in the private sector.

Through partnerships across the World Bank, IFC, MIGA, governments and development partners, Agriconnect aims to mobilize US$1 billion annually in agribusiness investment and an additional 5 billion in private capital while ensuring women farmers and women led agribusinesses are integrated into modernizing value chains. Multi sector partnerships are critical for scaling up the solutions. For example, in Senegal's agriconnect Compact, which is the national plan, it brings together the government, the World bank, ifc, miga, ifad, the, the African Development bank and the UN system to modernize grains, horticulture and livestock value chains while expanding opportunities for women farmers, women led enterprises and rural employment. Let me add some examples on the questions that you posed, Ambassador Hilale. Climate resilient irrigation investments, for example, can similarly expand productivity and resilience.

In Nigeria, the trimming program reached 903, about half of them being women. Helping women farmers increase yields by up to 60% while strengthening water user associations and flood risk management on digital digital agriculture platforms can also strengthen sustainable food systems. I see my brother from Cote d'. Ivoire. The agriculture program benefited over 400,000 people, almost 60% of them women by expanding connectivity, mobile money access and agro meteorological advisory services.

So I want to acknowledge the efforts of colleagues and the impressive progress on a new frontier. Childcare was mentioned, I believe by our colleague from UN Women previously a new frontier for the World bank agriculture teams is supporting care services in particular agriculture like for example the work we do in support of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And I will close with our work in support of fragile more vulnerable context where women centered recovery programs help stabilize food production and livelihoods. Like for example in South Sudan, the Resilient Agricultural Livelihoods Project and the Emergency Locust Response Project. So I want to close with the need for comprehensive approaches and reiterate the call by all colleagues on the importance of partnerships.

Thank you for having me.

Thank you very much Dean Maria for your contribution. And now I have the pleasure to give floor to Mr. Jean Paul Adam, Director des Politique de Civi Deplito.

I have the honor to hear his perspective. I would like to turn to Mr. Jean Paul Adam, Director of Policy, Monitoring and Advocacy to the office of its Special Advisor of Africa. Mr. Adam, given the key role played by your office to mobilize action and partnerships in favor of. Of the development in the continent of Africa. Would be very honored to hear your perspective.

We have only 20 minutes, so please.

Thank you very much, Excellency. And allow me to congratulate you for this event. For the leadership of the Kingdom of Morocco. In the partnership with the African countries and the UN system.

Represented by the the office of the Special Advisor for Africa. I would like to transmit our apologies for the Secretary General Christina Gandhi, who cannot be here. I would like to talk in brief. We're talking about the African women in the heart of the food system. The food security in Africa.

But we have to reflect on the economic model that depends on this food system. And mainly.

The African women dominate small scale agriculture. Representing about 70% of the African farmers. And produce more than 70% of the food food in Africa.

However, to realize the transformation that we would like to see, we have to. First of all, the food system will depend on the mobilization of technology and generalization of the smart agriculture. Facing the climate. The numerical digital divide between the sexes is great. And limits the access of women to improve their productivity and their resilience.

On the question of small enterprises in Africa. And this small scale is seen as a barrier to sustainable industrialization. However, with the use of digital technologies. We could use this.

This leadership of women of the small and medium enterprise. As a vehicle of change for food system. And these technologies could also allow for an improvement in education and science, Engineering, mathematics. And facilitate access to social protection. And facilitate access to agricultural financing.

Secondly, the transformation of energy. An essential motor that is insufficient. And it is spread inequally throughout the continent. We know that energy in the rural areas. Constitute a challenge in Africa that must be placed as a priority.

Thirdly, the transportation needs financing.

All women are facing obstacles in getting credit. Because they need guarantees. Which means that less than 20% of lands in Africa are held by women. This limits the capacity of women to invest and to diversify their means of survival. So we have to deal with these three axis.

Technological inclusion, access to energy and finance financing. It is indispensable for the success of this transformation that we would like to achieve at the level of Africa. I would like to salute the leadership of Morocco in this aspect. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Mr. Adam Chaput for your contribution. I would like to say that he was Minister of Finance in his country in Africa and I think he spoke as an expert in terms of the challenges of the needs in Africa.

Faithful and insightful contribution. This was truly very rich and inspiring discussions. We will now turn to the insights of our panel of Member States. I'm pleased to be joined by several African brothers and sisters who will share experiences from the ground, success stories and inspiring examples of how women are driving transformation in agriculture and food security across our continent. First speaker will be my brother, the Ambassador Tisfay Yerma Sabo, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Ethiopia.

You have floor, sir.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. Let me thank the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Morocco for organizing this important event and thank your leadership, Ambassador Omar for convening us as usual.

Let me also thank the OCP Group for always being part of this conversation. At the core of Africa's vision for structural transformation is a transition to sustainable food systems. For many African countries, the role of women in the agricultural sector goes beyond the mere exercise of empowerment of women. Women are the backbone of agriculture in the continent, are the primary drivers of food production, marketing and broader supply chain. However, women continue to face systemic constraints, particularly in accessing land, finance, technology and other opportunities.

As highlighted by several speakers before me, these disparities are even more pronounced in rural areas where agriculture is a source of livelihood. Ethiopia, together with Italy, had successfully co hosted the second UN Food System Summit, a stock taking moment convened by the Secretary General in July last year in Addis Ababa. The call to action that came out of this conference emphasized the need to promote equity resilience through linking environmental, economic and social dimensions of food security.

Let me highlight some of Ethiopia's experience and initiatives in this regard. 1. Women's contribution to Ethiopia's agri food system is significant. Ethiopia has taken policy measures and programmatic interventions to address inequalities impacting women in the agricultural sector. These efforts focus on several key areas including land rights reform.

Agricultural policy targeted support to transform smallholding farms into cluster farms, assisted by geospatial and other Digital Technologies. The 2024 Rural Land Administration and Use Proclamation gives particular focus to the rights of women, depicting the commitment of the legal system system to ensuring women's rights. It provides affirmative action in accessing land protection in inheritance processes and special focus on landholding registration and certification, among others. Currently, 80% of registered parcels are held in the names of women, either jointly or individually. The government is also implementing an ambitious roadmap for food security transformation.

The move towards food sovereignty is one of the right trajectory as evidenced by our wheat production initiative as we aim to transform our subsistence farming to commercialized agriculture. Unlocking the potential of women in agribusiness is a key policy priority. The increasing involvement of women in agricultural entrepreneurship cooperatives and agri food systems that are reshaping economic and social landscapes in Ethiopia beyond economic logic of productivity. This will gradually revitalize the rural economy while advancing gender equality and decent work. Bridging the financing gap.

For women in the agricultural and food systems, transformation is crucial. Increasing access to credit, finance, technology and markets for women is a matter of urgent priority. In this regard, we have to further strengthen partnerships, domestic resource mobilization and investment at scale scale. In conclusion, removing structural barriers in accessing land and credit as well as ensuring accountability for women's rights. Violations of all kind are necessary conditions to realize food security and to utilize the full potential of women and girls in transforming Africa.

I thank you, Mr. President. Thank you very much.

Dear brother tis father. Unfortunately people are knocking already on the door because there is another event. So I will give to my dear sister and yes, and after I've already called.

Just if you can make it in one minute. One minute because young people are here. So sorry.

Any background? Just to thank you my brother for convening this and thank you for the presenters.

Malawi see an agro based economy that's important to know and largely the population 80% is in rural areas which means the fact that it's more than 50% are women. And you have heard from OCP Africa majority agriculture gender agriculture challenges include lack of capacity to purchase certified seed, complementary inputs, lack of access to information on improved agriculture technologies, lack of access to structured market and also lack of access to financial services. We have heard about those. I just wanted to share a few best practices. One public private partnership we have women in agro processing industry.

This Initiative is targeting 100,000 women organized as women smallholder cooperatives. The goal is Irregium for women aimed to unlock economic opportunities for women legume business entrepreneurs in targeted communities through a comprehensive market systems based approach that includes access to quality legume seeds that are high yield but also drought resistant and disease resistant. Second one and there are partners that are including Pan African Beans Research Alliance International center for Tropical Agriculture and even a bank local bank in Malawi as well as the Rubber bank of Netherlands. 2nd UN Women in collaboration with Korea International Cooperation Agency introducing innovative farming practice of using greenhouse production of food among women farmers and these women from proceeds they built a warehouse for storing their food produce. Under south south cooperation Morocco with the OCP Africa we are looking into producing locally Fertilizer that will be tailored to our local soil conditions.

And just to thank all other partners that come along with these partners, ifad, Africa Development bank and other UN agencies. What we need is packaging all these best practices and scale them and have targeted investment. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, dear sister. And yes, now I give the floor to my good best friend, Timurko Morico.

Ambassador Payment Representative Ivory Course. You have one minute, please.

75% of rural women live under the poverty line. The Cote d' Ivoire has removed its constraint. It's not just a matter of equity. It is also an essential prerequisite of strengthening the resilience of our food system, accelerating Africa's economic transport for achieving sustainable development. These inequalities limit not only women's economic potential, but also the ability of our food system.

The National Plan has a budget of $350 billion which places women at the center at the heart of our strategy. My country has placed the accent on the south side cooperation especially with Morocco. With the Morocco is the first partner of Morocco in agricultural cooperation in 2023. We have an important 60% to 80% of food production during the year. The years our the forum of investment in Morocco in Cote d' Ivoire has opened new perspectives for cooperation the Morocco Morocco with its experience with the Plan Morocco Green Morocco is a partner of choice for the agro industrial improvement Cote d' Ivoire does reaffirms its commitment to continuing its effort.

We can build an Africa where every woman can participate in the food system and the food agriculture. Food security is not a tragedy.

Thank you, Mariko, the ambassador of Rwanda.

Ahead of time, I think we need to look at one important thing on the table. Today military spending is $2.7 trillion prior according to UN reports, $93 billion is needed to make sure we feed everyone by 2030 agenda. It means that we are spending 30 times more on military hardware than spending $93 billion in a year by 23rd day to make sure that everyone has food on the table. I think we need to recalibrate, including making sure that the numbers don't lie. But priorities are lying to us moving forward.

Simply put, when women farmers thrive, Africa's food systems become stronger, our communities become more resilient and our path towards sustainable development become even more secure. Thank you very much, Chair.

The last word will be to an African woman coming from African country from Kenya. I cannot prevent her from speaking. Thank you very much for being with us, my sister so much. I think the room is in agreement on the whole concept of why the woman is at the heart. But we must also be cognizant to the fact that being the backbone of the food system than being the majority, a lot of discrimination has happened.

So, distinguished delegates, food security is not an abstract concept but a daily reality of millions of people across Africa. Our food systems rely heavily on the labor, knowledge and resilience of women. In Kenya, a woman constitutes about 70 to 80% of the agricultural labor force, particularly in smallholder farming, food processing and local markets. Yes, but yet despite this immense contribution, only 1% of them hold land titles and women land ownership has declined over the decades. Distinguished delegates, Kenya has established a strong constitutional, legal and policy foundation to promote gender equality.

The constitution guarantees equality and freedom from discrimination and requires land to be managed in an equitable and sustainable sustainable manner. And we have all the laws that are really protecting this. But I'll just jump this and say in addition to that we have the Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy 2019, 2029 and the National Food and Nutritional Security Policy recognize small farmers, most of whom are women, as critical to food security and climate resilience. To translate this commitment into action, the government is implementing several interventions. This including integrating gender into agricultural extension services, promoting climate smart agriculture, strengthening women led cooperatives and value chains, expanding access to markets and financing through affirmative action funds and ensuring women participation in decision making structures.

Partnerships with development partners have also helped expand access to finances, input, digital tools and inclusive agricultural market. However, challenges remain. Women still face limited land ownership, unequal access to finance and technology, heavy and paid care responsibilities and gender based violence that restricts their mobility and economic participation. Implementation gaps also persist including limited budget, insufficient gender, disaggregated data and under resourced institutional mechanism. So moving forward, recommended priorities include strengthening gender responsive lad registration, designing financial services that respond to women's need, investing in care infrastructure such as water and child care, expanding women leadership in food food system governance and improving gender responsive budgeting and data system excellencies.

Kenya experience show both progress and unfinished work. Closing gaps in agri food system is essential for food security, climate resilience and inclusive development. When women have secure land rights, access to finance and technology and sit at the decision making tables, Africa will not only feed itself but it will thrive. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. My dear sister. I would like to apologize for the three other speakers who could not take the floor this morning. We will take their speeches and we will forward them and distribute them to all member states. I would like to thank the keynote speakers to the panelists to the UN Agencies to the South south center, to our dear colleagues, permanent representative of all the countries who are here for their contribution, I would like to express to you my gratitude and the recognition of Kingdom of Morocco and see you, inshallah, next year.

Thank you.