“The food security crisis, which has been so clearly exposed during the pandemic, goes beyond the question of food production. It is shedding light on systemic injustices embedded in our global order. It is a question of the kind of values that underlie this order, whether at the global, national or local level. Faith communities have a significant contribution to make in this regard,” said Melania Mora from the Baha’i International Community’s (BIC) Brussels Office,  when reflecting on the BIC’s November 23, 2021 event “Preparing for the AU-EU [African Union and European Union] Summit: The Role of Local Actors in Addressing Food and Nutrition Security in the Africa-EU partnership.”

The event was hosted by the BIC together with other faith-based organizations ahead of the upcoming AU-EU summit, and explored the specific role and responsibility of faith-based local actors in food security.

The summit, held every three years, brings together heads of state from both continents to discuss shared goals and to make commitments to achieve them. The fifth summit will be held in February 2022. The EU has expressed a desire to build a “partnership of equals” between Africa and the EU. 

Panelists and participants at the event agreed that faith-based actors hold valuable insights on how communities may be mobilized and how knowledge generated at the local level is needed when looking at the sustainability of food production.

The event co-hosts included Africa Europe Faith and Justice network, Caritas Europa, “Coopération Internationale pour le Développement et la Solidarité," the Commission Bishops' Conferences of the European Union, the Conference of European Churches, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH, Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, and World Vision EU.

The BIC also recently released a statement on food security entitled “‘The First Active Agent in Human Society’: Putting Farmers at the Heart of Food Security Policy.”