Resources & New Publications
European Commission transfers secretariat of the multilateral dialogue to the International Science Council
The European Commission has transferred the Secretariat of the Multilateral Dialogue on R&I cooperation to the International Science Council.
The agreement was formalised by Maria Cristina Russo and Sir Peter Gluckman. A three-year grant of €1.2 million supports this transition. The ISC has been closely involved in the initiative since its inception. Its independence, global reach, and scientific expertise were key factors in the decision. The Council brings together over 250 scientific unions and organisations worldwide.
These span natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.
The transfer aims to strengthen international cooperation in research and innovation. The Multilateral Dialogue serves as a platform for shared principles and collaboration.
It enables countries to exchange perspectives and align approaches.
From the second half of 2026, the ISC will lead the initiative’s next phase. The new phase will expand global participation with support from key partners. More here.
Europe and Africa in 2026: Towards a New Geo-Economic and Partnership Paradigm?
In the APO 2026 Report, Sylvie Matelly highlights a turning point in Europe–Africa relations. She argues that the partnership is entering an unavoidable phase of redefinition.
Global dynamics have shifted, with China, Turkey, and Gulf states reshaping influence in Africa. Africa is now central to global growth through digital, energy, and demographic transitions.
Europe can no longer act primarily as a donor. The Global Gateway marks progress in this direction. However, its credibility depends on genuine co-construction with African partners.
Moving beyond a supply-driven approach is essential.
The report outlines three key priorities for the partnership.
These include recognising African industrialisation and sovereignty ambitions. It also calls for greater coherence across European policies. Ultimately, the partnership must be based on trust, reciprocity, and shared responsibility. APO 2026 Report here.
The potential of development finance to unlock investments in the critical minerals value chain
Critical minerals are key resources to effectively deliver on the green and digital transitions, and demand for these minerals has surged in recent years. EMDEs are home to a significant share of these resources, creating an opportunity to generate important socio-economic benefits if projects are carefully designed with partner countries’ priorities in mind. In this context, the OECD policy brief finds that:
🔹The relevance of critical minerals for development finance actors is growing, as the evolution of their mandates in the sector highlight.
🔹Official development finance flows and private finance mobilised for the sector remain limited.
🔹Development finance can address investment risks throughout the critical minerals value chain, while supporting stronger development benefits for partner countries.
Link to the policy brief here.
New report urges urgent, coordinated financing to reverse rising hunger and transform agrifood systems across Africa
Joint report from FAO, ECA, WFP and AU finds hunger continues to rise
A new joint report by FAO, ECA, WFP, and African Union Commission warns that hunger continues to rise across Africa.
It calls for urgent, coordinated financing to transform agrifood systems. The report highlights a major gap between current funding and actual needs. While public spending on agriculture has increased since 2018, it remains insufficient.
Fiscal constraints continue to limit government investment in many countries. Official development assistance has grown only modestly.
Less than 27% of external funding is directed to food security and nutrition. Private investment in agriculture remains critically low.
Bank credit to the sector accounts for less than 4% of total lending.
Foreign direct investment is limited and highly concentrated.
Small and medium agricultural enterprises face major barriers to accessing finance.
The report urges stronger, sustained investment to reverse hunger trends and drive transformation. More here.
Can African food systems thrive without chemical fertilisers?
A new analysis from GRAIN raises important questions about the role of fertilisers in Africa’s food systems. Recent price shocks – linked to geopolitical tensions – are exposing the risks of relying on imported inputs.
Over the past two decades, African countries have spent billions on fertiliser subsidies. Yet the results for yields, incomes, and food security have often been mixed. In many cases, higher input use has not translated into better outcomes for small-scale farmers.
Meanwhile, highly concentrated fertiliser markets allow a small number of actors to set prices and capture value.
There is a need to rethink the pathway. Across the continent, farmers are already developing and scaling agroecological approaches that build soil fertility, reduce input dependence, and strengthen resilience. Read the full piece here.
Advancing Integrated Environmental and Nutritional Life Cycle Assessments for Local Food Systems
Accelerating sustainable food system transitions requires spatially explicit integration of localproduction conditions and nutritional priorities, yet such assessments remain scarce, particularlyfor low- and middle-income countries. We developed an open-source, reproducible nutritionalLife Cycle Assessment model – Local Environmental and Nutritional Scoring (LENS) – andanalyzed sub-national food supply chains across six environmental impact categories in Kenyaand Rwanda. Results reveal strong context dependency: terrestrial animal products showcomparable impacts to most plant-source foods when comprehensively assessed. Enviro-nutritional efficiencies tend to be highest for wild-caught fish and seafood, pulses, fruit andvegetables from low-input systems, and lowest for starchy staples and poultry. Substantialvariation within food groups, between co-products, and across space necessitates interpretingscores at landscape level rather than as independent benchmarks for scaling production. More here.
European Union and AfCFTA Secretariat strengthen their partnership to promote intra-African trade and investment
The European Union and the AfCFTA Secretariat signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 20 April 2026. The agreement strengthens cooperation to advance the African Continental Free Trade Area.
AfCFTA is the largest free trade area in the world.
The partnership aims to boost economic integration across Africa.
It also seeks to align European and African strategic interests.
The MoU establishes a structured framework for collaboration.
It enables policy dialogue, knowledge exchange, and coordinated action. The Team Europe Initiative supports African economic integration with €1.2 billion in funding. It includes more than 80 actions aligned with African and EU strategies. Funding is provided by the EU and several Member States. The EU Technical Assistance Facility supports the AfCFTA Secretariat and related institutions.
Overall, the EU is positioned as a key long-term partner in African trade integration. More here.
SADC and EU Deepen Partnership to Boost Trade and Regional Integration
SADC and the EU held their first quarterly meeting of the 2026/27 financial year on 28 April 2026, reaffirming their strong partnership.
The meeting reviewed progress under the 2021–2027 Multiannual Indicative Programme for Sub-Saharan Africa.
The EU has committed €195.9 million to ten projects across the SADC region. These initiatives support peace and security, agriculture, trade, natural resources, digital transformation, and infrastructure. Projects are already delivering results, including improved disaster response and expanded market access.
The year marks the 10th anniversary of the EU–SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The EPA has boosted exports, facilitated trade, and strengthened economic ties with Europe. SADC highlighted trade as a key driver of jobs, resilience, and regional integration. The EU reaffirmed its commitment to shared prosperity through continued investment and cooperation. More here.
New research could help provide a more reliable water supply for millions in rural Africa
A new study led by the British Geological Survey (BGS) sheds light on rural water supply challenges in sub-Saharan Africa.
Millions rely on hand-pumped boreholes (HPBs), which often suffer frequent breakdowns and long repair delays. Previous research has taken limited “siloed” approaches, focusing only on technical or social factors. The new study highlights that failures result from complex interactions between physical, technical, and social elements. Engineering factors such as water levels, pump condition, and borehole design largely determine failure occurrence. Social factors, including access to spare parts, financing, and demand, influence repair times.
The research involved fieldwork, testing, and community engagement in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Uganda. It combined statistical analysis with user experiences to better understand real-world challenges. This led to the development of a new, more comprehensive conceptual model of water system performance. The findings offer valuable guidance for policymakers and organisations to improve reliable water access. More here.
New Generalised Scheme of Preferences approved for application in 2027
The European Parliament has approved the new Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP), set to apply from 1 January 2027. The scheme will grant reduced or zero tariffs to imports from 65 developing countries for the next decade.
It aims to support poverty reduction and sustainable development amid global economic challenges. A key component remains the Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative for Least Developed Countries.
EBA will continue indefinitely, offering duty-free access for all goods except arms and ammunition.
The updated GSP strengthens links between trade benefits and human rights, labour standards, and environmental protection.
It introduces stricter monitoring, greater transparency, and stronger compliance requirements.
Beneficiary countries must adhere to more international conventions to retain trade preferences.
A new urgent withdrawal mechanism allows suspension in cases of serious violations.
The scheme also includes safeguards on rice imports to protect EU producers from market disruption. More here.
EU announces €235 million in humanitarian aid for West and Central Africa
The West and Central Africa region is plagued by various humanitarian crises, with significant needs for humanitarian assistance. The primary driver of these crises is conflict, further intensified by the adverse effects of climate change and a multitude of local factors related to governance, demography and access to land and resources. The epicentre of these crises is in the Central Sahel and Lake Chad regions, with the Central Sahel conflict spilling over in the coastal countries, fuelling large-scale displacement both internally and across borders. The ongoing Sudan crisis is also severely impacting the resilience of Eastern Chad. In addition to these intertwined dynamics, standalone crises persist in North-West Nigeria, North-West and South-West (NWSW) Cameroon, and the Central African Republic (CAR). More here.
Commission unveils new AI tool to fight agri-food alerts and food fraud
TraceMap will help national authorities detect risks faster and respond more effectively to food safety alerts. By analysing large volumes of data from EU systems, the platform can identify suspicious operators, track supply chains and help remove unsafe or fraudulent products from the market more quickly.
This means:
• faster detection of food fraud and contaminated products
• better coordination between Member States
• more effective controls on imported goods
• stronger protection for both EU consumers and farmers.
TraceMap is an important step in making the EU’s already strong food safety system smarter, faster and more resilient. More here.
The benefits of policy alignment: interactions of agrosilvopastoralism with food systems in the Sahel and Horn of Africa
Agrosilvopastoralism (ASP) plays a key role in socio-economic and environmental development in the Sahel and Horn of Africa.
Rising population pressures and climate change are straining these integrated systems.
ASP combines pastoralism, crop farming, and forestry to support livelihoods and ecosystems.
Its contributions to food security, resilience, and sustainability are increasingly under pressure.
The study examines how ASP interacts with food systems in both regions. It identifies five key drivers: gender, governance, innovation, market integration, and power dynamics.
Analysis of 40 studies and 60 interventions highlights frequent trade-offs between food security and sustainability.
Single-driver interventions often produce mixed results and unintended negative effects.
In contrast, multi-driver approaches can create synergies and co-benefits across food system outcomes.
The study concludes that context-specific, inclusive policies are essential for achieving sustainable and equitable improvements.
OECD – OCDE Private Philanthropy for Development report
Private philanthropy is a growing contributor to development finance, but its overall scale remains limited, and funding is concentrated across sectors, regions and a small number of large foundations.
The OCDE Private Philanthropy for Development report provides new data on how philanthropic funding is allocated and where gaps remain.
Key highlights::
🔹 philanthropic contributions reached USD 68.2 billion between 2020 and 2023, equivalent to around 10% of official development assistance (ODA)
🔹 funding is concentrated in a limited number of sectors, with health and education together accounting for around half of total philanthropic flows
🔹 these flows are unevenly distributed across regions, with Africa being the main destination for cross-border philanthropy
🔹 a small number of large foundations account for a significant share of international giving
Broadening the reach of philanthropic funding and strengthening collaboration with public and private actors can help increase its impact and better support sustainable development. More here.
News from CGIAR
No systems transformation without systems literacy: Insights from CGIAR
Agri-food systems face complex, interconnected social, ecological, economic, and political challenges that call for transformation.
Systems approaches can help navigate these complexities by integrating perspectives, identifying entry points, and minimising trade-offs.
This requires “systems literacy”: the ability to understand and apply appropriate systems approaches to specific problems.
This paper examines how CGIAR engages with systems thinking as a key actor in agricultural research for development (AR4D).
It also explores challenges in operationalising systems thinking across the partnership. Findings show that, despite a commitment to food systems transformation, systems thinking remains underutilised in CGIAR. Interviews reveal limited systems literacy and diverse interpretations of the concept.
Adoption of systems approaches is scattered, with little deliberate matching of methods to specific challenges.
The study highlights opportunities to strengthen impact through more intentional use of systems approaches.
It calls for enhanced systems literacy, including knowledge, governance, and investment.
Systems thinking offers practical tools to address complex agri-food challenges, but its effectiveness depends on stronger integration within AR4D. More here.
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