Building Peace in the Central African Republic: The Role of Agricultural Extension Services
Oct 21, 2019
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The Wilson Center
Washington DC
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For several decades, the Central African Republic (CAR) has been engulfed in a complex crisis that has weakened the country’s social and economic fabric, including food production systems. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) listing, as of June 2019, 1.8 million people, or 41 percent of CAR’s population, were facing severe food insecurity. The prolonged conflict has aggravated food insecurity, and in turn, food insecurity contributes to systemic and entrenched instability. A revitalization of the agricultural sector is key to improving food security and reducing poverty and violence. Yet agriculture, especially agricultural extension services for rural areas, is often neglected as part of the broader peacebuilding strategy in fragile countries.
Please join the Wilson Center’s Africa Program and Environmental Change & Security Program for a discussion on “Building Peace in the Central African Republic: The Role of Agricultural Extension Services” on Monday, October 21 from 2:00-3:30 pm in the Wilson Center’s 6th Floor Auditorium. This event will assess the causes of insecurity in CAR and its impact on agriculture and food security, and give particular attention to the potential of agricultural and rural extension programs for improving agricultural productivity and profitability while also contributing to peacebuilding. The discussion will look at lessons learned from other post-conflict countries, consider how those options may be adapted to the context of the CAR, and offer policy options for enhancing food security as part of CAR’s return to peace.
The SVNP is a continent-wide network of African policy, research and academic organizations that works with the Wilson Center’s Africa Program to bring African knowledge and perspectives to U.S., African, and international policy on peacebuilding in Africa. Established in 2011 and supported by the generous financial support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the project provides avenues for African researchers and practitioners to engage with and exchange analyses and perspectives with U.S., African, and international policymakers in order to develop the most appropriate, cohesive, and inclusive policy frameworks and approaches to achieving sustainable peace in Africa.