His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio has delivered a keynote handle at Oxford College’s OpenAg Symposium on the theme, “Energy Crops: Remodeling Meals, Vitality, and Water Safety by way of Agriculture.” He emphasised the interconnected nature of worldwide challenges like local weather change, meals safety, and vitality entry, calling for modern options to handle these urgent points.
“Africa is on the frontlines of the local weather disaster,” President Bio famous, including that regardless of the continent’s huge pure sources, local weather change threatens to reverse progress. With 65% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, he highlighted Africa’s potential to grow to be the “world’s breadbasket” by 2050 by way of climate-smart agriculture.
President Bio additionally drew consideration to Africa’s pivotal function in international discussions on meals, vitality, and water safety, stressing that Africa have to be on the forefront, “driving innovation, shaping insurance policies, and setting the agenda for a water, vitality, and food-secure world.”
He outlined Sierra Leone’s FEED SALONE Programme, geared toward boosting agricultural productiveness and decreasing reliance on meals imports. With a objective of mobilizing US$1.6 billion over 5 years, the initiative focuses on climate-smart agriculture and personal sector-led progress.
President Bio showcased Sierra Leone’s function in international meals methods transformation by way of the Alliance of Champions for Meals Techniques Transformation (ACF), launched at COP28. He known as for collective international motion to put money into climate-resilient infrastructure and public-private partnerships.
He argued that meals methods are actually a serious driver of environmental destruction, accounting for 90% of deforestation, 60% of biodiversity loss, and important greenhouse fuel emissions. He revealed that 150 governments, together with Sierra Leone, have dedicated to integrating meals methods into their nationwide local weather plans to foster resilient meals methods and local weather motion.
He invited the world to hitch Sierra Leone’s journey, saying, “The second to accomplice with us is now. We should stroll the speak and put into motion the whole lot we’re discussing right here right now,” President Bio appealed.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of State Home Sierra Leone.