Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Monday, September 3, 2023.

Africa Climate Summit 2023: Will Africa have one voice?

The inaugural Africa Climate Summit 2023 kicked off yesterday, September 4, 2023, in Nairobi, Kenya. Co-hosted by Kenya and the African Union (AU), the summit brings together African leaders, development partners, intergovernmental organisations, the private sector, academia, civil society organisations, and women and youth.

The summit’s main theme is “Green Growth and Climate Finance for Africa and the World.” It sets out to design and catalyse actions and solutions for climate change in Africa. According to the summit’s concept note, the goal is to make Africa a centre of global green growth initiatives.

At the core of the agenda is the host, Kenya’s President William Ruto, who is advocating for a new multilateral climate action financing mechanism buttressed by carbon taxes on fossil fuels, aviation, and marine transport to finance and protect nature generation.

Full analysis here.

Ruto, Adesina: Africa’s youth biggest asset for the continent, world

Youth leaders, entrepreneurs and policymakers on Monday presented the Africa Youth Climate Assembly Declaration to Kenya’s President, William Ruto, and African Development Bank Group President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina.

The Declaration, culminating in the Africa Youth Climate Assembly held in Nairobi from 1-3 September, advocates for the accelerated establishment of a Global Green Bank and a New Global Financial Pact to prioritise young people and their interests in climate financing.

The delegates also called for establishing a UN Youth office based in Africa, the continent with the largest youth population on the planet.

In response to the Declaration, President Ruto and the Bank Chief recognised Africa’s youth as the biggest asset for Africa and the world, praising their dynamism and innovation, a statement released Monday said.

Full story here.

Tanzania to introduce weight-based beef cattle selling system

The government has prepared a new system for selling beef cattle in all auctions across the country, whereby cattle will be sold as per their kilograms and not by estimated price as it is for now.

The envisaged system, whose use is expected to commence earlier next month, is expected to play a pivotal role in helping livestock keepers and beef cattle traders realise reasonable profits.

For many years, beef cattle in all auctions in Tanzania have been marketed through negotiations between the sellers and buyers based on ‘eye- estimations’ and not the actual weight of the cattle.

To repair the situation, the government has found it prudent to introduce the weight-based selling system to transform the country’s cattle market into a win-win business.

Full story here.

Africa Food System Forum 2023 kicks off in Dar 

Over 4,000 agricultural stakeholders are converging in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial capital, for the 13th annual Africa Food Systems Forum.

The Summit, occurring under the theme ‘Recover, Regenerate, Act: Africa’s Solutions to Food Systems Transformation’ will provide a platform for the delegates, leaders, and innovators from across the globe to discuss policy, breakthroughs, and innovations in agriculture and food systems transformation.

During a press conference over the weekend, Minister of Agriculture Hussein Mohamed Bashe warmly welcomed delegates from Tanzania and beyond attending the summit.

He emphasised that the Forum represents a significant milestone in establishing inclusive and sustainable food systems transformation throughout the continent.

“This year’s summit strongly emphasises empowering women and youth, recognising their pivotal roles in reshaping Africa’s food landscape,” he stated.

Bashe also touched on how Tanzania is working to address food security and job creation through Tanzania’s flagship initiative, “Building a Better Tomorrow: Youth Initiative for Agribusiness (BBT-YIA),” which aims to provide agribusiness training to 200,000 young individuals and support 15,000 youth-led agribusiness ventures in Tanzanian villages over the next five years.

Aligned with these initiatives, the Africa Food Systems Forum 2023 will specifically address optimising youth employment within Africa’s food systems while showcasing the innovative agribusiness ventures driven by young entrepreneurs.

Amath Pathe Sene, the Managing Director of the Africa Food Systems Forum, underscored the pressing need to tackle food system challenges, stressing the need for Africa’s voices to be heard.

“We need to develop solutions rooted in our local context and give paramount importance to women and youth empowerment in transforming our food systems,” Sene said.

The Forum will also build momentum for the Food Systems Transformation Dialogue ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 28) in Dubai.

Key highlights include thematic plenary sessions with expert speakers, a ministerial roundtable involving over 40 ministers, and a high-level session where Heads of state will make commitments to advance Africa’s Food system transformation.

USAID’s Isobel Coleman visits Tanzania, Malawi

From September 4 through 8, USAID Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman will travel to Tanzania and Malawi to emphasise and advance the U.S. government’s work to support inclusive, climate-smart, market-driven economic growth in Africa and strong democratic governance that advances civil liberties and protects universal human rights.

According to a statement, while in Tanzania, Coleman and the U.S. Department of Agriculture will lead the U.S. government delegation to the Africa Food Systems Forum 2023 Summit, the world’s largest meeting of major stakeholders in Africa’s food systems.

The Deputy Administrator will meet with Forum attendees to discuss the impact of the global food security crisis in Africa.

Deputy Administrator Coleman will also meet with senior Tanzanian government officials to build upon the United States’ growing partnership with Tanzania, a Feed the Future target country, to help break the cycle of hunger and poverty by producing more food, improving nutrition, and attracting private sector investments.

Coleman will also travel to Lilongwe, Malawi, where she will meet with various partners and stakeholders to better understand the macroeconomic challenges and economic policies affecting Malawians.

While in Malawi, the Deputy Administrator will engage with key members of the Malawian government to reinforce the U.S. government’s commitment to advancing private sector-led inclusive economic growth in the country.

This is it for today, and we hope you enjoyed our briefing. Please consider subscribing to our newsletter (see below), or follow us on Twitter (here), or joining us on Telegram (here). And in case you have any questions or comments, please drop a word to our editors at editor@thechanzo.com.