Posted on May, 22, 2025 at 11:27 pm
Cooperation to tackle a shared challenge, hunger, was the focus of lectures, experience exchanges, and meetings at the 2nd Brazil-Africa Dialogue on Food Security, Fight Against Hunger, and Rural Development, held this week in Brasília and coordinated by Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Representatives from 44 African countries and 10 international institutions, including development banks and philanthropic organizations, participated in the second edition of the event, held 15 years after the first edition during Lula’s second term.
As part of their appointments in Brazil, ministers, ambassadors, and representatives from African nations visited the storage facility of national crop agency Conab in Brasília, as well as the facilities of Brazil’s state-run agricultural center Embrapa in Petrolina, Pernambuco, to learn about projects developed by the company focused on the soil and climate of Brazil’s semi-arid region. They also visited Embrapa’s booth at the AgroBrasília fair.
In addition to technical visits, foreign officials participated in Brazil-Africa Dialogue meetings from Monday (19), when they attended President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s speech, through Thursday (22), featuring speeches and presentations by African ministers, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad, Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture Minister Paulo Teixeira, First Lady Janja Lula da Silva, and other officials.
In Thursday’s dialogues, participants exchanged experiences in fighting hunger and shared the challenges their countries face.
According to Conab, among the Arab African countries participating in the meetings were Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan, and Tunisia. Even before the Brazil-Africa Dialogue began on Monday (19), Embrapa president Silvia Massruhá received three African delegations: from Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as Libya’s extraordinary ambassador to Brasília, Osama Ibrahim Ayad Sawan.
At the meeting, Sawan discussed the need for technical cooperation between Brazil and Libya for the development of peanut, citrus, and wheat crops, as well as cooperation in cattle ranching for beef and dairy production. He said Libya has an artificial river project aimed at supplying potable water to regions facing water scarcity. “Libya has the potential to carry out large projects, and for this, we would like to implement existing agreements with Brazil,” said the diplomat, according to Embrapa.
Source: ANBA