Meet the Farmers Conference is an annual conference aimed at promoting and supporting agribusiness partnerships between Africa and the GCC. It encourages technology innovation in the agricultural value chain and provides a platform for agro trade between both regions. The theme of the conference this year, ‘Creating a Sustainable Future; Food Security | Trade | Technology’ is anchored on sustaining food production, facilitating inter-regional trade and promoting technology in agriculture.

This year’s conference was largely attended by African farmers, exporters, investors, distributors, policymakers, logistics companies, and trade agencies. Standardization bodies, agricultural advocates, exhibitors, off-takers from the GCC, and participants from different countries were all present.

The conference opened with a welcome address delivered by Bola Oyedele, Managing Director Crenov8, and was followed by a keynote speech from the office of the UAE Ministry of Economy represented by H.E. Juma Al Kait, Assistant Undersecretary- Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of Economy, UAE. He expressed the UAE’s interest in trading with Africa and encouraged farmers to capitalize on this opportunity and export food to the GCC.

Next was a presentation on ‘How Logistics can help Improve Agricultural Trade in Africa’ by Adekunle Oyinloye, Group Managing Director -SIFAX Group, Gold sponsors of the conference. Omar Khan, Director of International Offices at Dubai Chamber of Commerce spoke on ‘How Dubai is Advancing Trade Relations with Africa’. He described MTFC as a conference that exposes Agribusinesses in Africa to opportunities in the UAE. He also stressed that the Dubai Chamber is willing to support agribusinesses and other organizations looking to set up business in Dubai.

The conference featured other presentations and panel sessions by agro experts across Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Topics ranged from ‘Ways to Create a Sustainable Future in Agriculture’ to the ‘Opportunities in Agricultural Value Chain’. Some of the panelists for both sessions include Kenneth Obiajulu, Managing Director – Farmcrowdy, Ademola Akinyemi – CEO Farmcenta, Alok Bhargava – MD Praramb Agri-Trading DMCC, Dennie Beach – President Go Africa LLC, Schlueter – President Doehler MENA and Adekunle Oyinloye – Group MD of SIFAX Group. This was followed by breakout meetings and B2B networking sessions.

Day Two

After an engaging time on the first day of the conference, the second day was lit with expectant faces and high-level networking had started in the conference hall already, The full proceedings of the day began with a presentation by Dr Abdulkareem Muhammad Al Amri, CEO Hail Agriculture Consultancy. He spoke on the ‘Role of Africa in Supporting UAE Food Security’. Highlighting the major African-produced food crops that are in demand in the UAE,  he encouraged farmers to cultivate for export as there is a huge market ready to absorb same in the UAE. His speech was succeeded by a presentation on ‘Food Trade in the UAE’ by Joachim Yebouet, CEO Foodco Holdings, one of the largest FCMGs engaged in food processing and distribution in the UAE. This presentation focused on the role Africa has to play to ensure the sustained distribution and availability of food for the UAE’s teeming population.

Other highlights of the event included two-panel sessions and a presentation underlining the Standards and Requirement for Food Importation into the UAE, How to deal with the Agricultural Challenges in Africa and the Agribusiness Opportunities in Africa.

MTFC 2019 Innov8Agric Challenge

The Conference this year also featured the second edition of Innov8Agric Challenge. This year, we received over a thousand applications with various innovative Agritech ideas from across Africa. The finalists, Acquahmeyer Ghana, AgriGo Rwanda and Lentera Africa pitched at the grand finale held at MTFC 2019. At the end of an exciting pitch session, Lentera Africa emerged winner of this year’s Innov8Agric Challenge. The CEO, Moses Kimani was awarded the sum of $5000 grand prize and other incentives that came with the Innov8Agric Prize.

Other Awardees at MTFC 2019 include;

• The Most Impactful Networking Group – UAE AFRICA NETWORKING GROUP
• Business Excellence Award – GO AFRICA 
• Company of the Year – SIFAX GROUP 
• Sustainable Company of the Year – WEBCOR GROUP
• Best Innovative Company of the Year – ADVANTA SEEDS
• Excellence in Investment Promotion – FEDERAL MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (FMARD Nigeria)
• Trade excellence Award – MINISTRY OF ECONOMY, UAE

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He is passionate about Africa and believes that Africa’s youth will lead its rising. Professionally, he has spent the last 7 years around the Digital Technology Ecosystem in Nigeria, managing and growing Digital Communications channels for leading startups and accelerators across Africa. He currently leads the team of creatives, designers and digital specialists executing Digital Projects at Crenov8 DMCC, a multinational digital technology and business consulting firm headquartered in Dubai, UAE.

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With over 10 years of international experience, Mark has overseen several projects from start to finish. He possesses a strong leadership skills that has seen him manage diverse teams at various levels. As a General Manager, he oversees the business operations at Crenov8. His interest in innovation and technology has also seen him create a number of management tools to aid human resource management and business operations. Olorundare currently holds a BA. (Hons) Business Management – Middlesex University, Dubai, UAE.

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Iyambo is a big fan of horticulture and has championed severally horticulture programmes in Namibia and beyond. His interest in horticulture made him receive the Large Scale Horticulture Producer award for 2014 and voted as the Vice Chairman of the Karst Area Horticultural Association in Namibia.
He also earned the Business Awards’ for Excellence in 2011, the Freshmark Supplier of the Year in 2016, and appointed as the Chairman of the National Horticultural Task Team by the Namibian Government.

Iyambo is also currently serving as a member of a high-level economic panel that advises Namibian President Hage Geingob on proactive and innovative approaches to develop the economy.

Indeed, Micheal Iyambo’s knowledge about the agro industry and sound business acumen makes him a perfect fit to speak in the panel discussion on the agribusiness opportunities in Africa

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Farouk obtained a B.Ed. of Social Sciences from the University of Cape Coast and also has certificates from the Ghana Stock Exchange.

Before his current position, he took managerial roles at other organizations while acquiring skills in Agriculture, Stocks and investment, pursued with an ardent hunger for African development.

His company, Premium Africa Holdings operates in the areas of construction, ICT, mining, agribusiness, energy and investment consultancy. He currently works closely with government officials across Africa on various interventions geared towards the economic transformation of their respective countries.

At the third edition of Meet the Farmers Conference coming up on the 27th and 28th of November at the Marina Hotel at Dubai, Farouk Khailann will be speaking on the Agribusiness Opportunities in Africa.

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Tokunbo has acquired 16 years of relevant experience and expertise in diversity and inclusion management from developing and managing public-private partnerships. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Law and a master’s degree in Development from the Middlesex University, UK.

Tokunbo belongs to the Advisory Board of the Lagos State government. Aside from corporate work, Tokunbo owns TC Clothing, a clothing line that designs bespoke shirts for the urban African woman and Gemology Spa for natural beauty therapy.

Her experience as a corporate consultant has led to a passionate interest in promoting international trade discourses. In 2018, her company collaborated with CaribDirect, a leading multimedia firm based in the United Kingdom to link African businesses to the European market.

At the third edition of Meet the Farmers Conference 2019, Tokunbo will be joining other panelists to discuss Agribusiness Opportunities in Africa.

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Sequel to graduating from college, Yvonne has amassed forty years of great experience from working in different capacities in the corporate world.

She is a well-experienced Business Development/Account Manager and Consultant with a proven track record of exceeding target, developing and contributing to the innovation of the business environment.

Some of her top skills include Forecasting, Corporate Sales, Business Development, ISO Implementation, Research and Analysis.

Yvonne has also garnered strong customer relationship from years of working as the middle man for several business transactions.

Her managerial acumen is visible in the way with which she withstands work pressure, promptly execute tasks and consult for companies in the UAE.

At MTFC 2019, Yvonne will be part of the panelists discussing Import/Export Regulations, Certifications and Food Safety.

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