“The link between migration and agriculture is underexplored. Rarely do we put together the different pieces of the puzzle” said Member of European Parliament (MEP) Jan-Christoph Oetjen at a webinar he co-hosted with the Brussels Office of the Baha'i International Community (BIC) on 12 October 2021.

The event titled ‘Policy Coherence for Development in the EU-Africa Partnership: Migration & Agriculture’ explored how the degradation of rural livelihoods across Africa has become a major driver of migration. 

Rachel Bayani, who also co-hosted the meeting as the BIC’s Representative to the European Union, said in her own remarks: “The indisputable interconnectedness between the African and European continents requires that policies adopted on one continent are checked against the impact they have on the other and do not undermine each other. The purpose of this meeting is to explore how agricultural policies, whether adopted in Africa or Europe, can be designed to improve rural livelihoods across Africa and be in line with broader development goals”.

Over 50 participants joined the meeting – many also sharing their thoughts during an open dialogue session. MEP Barry Andrews highlighted the complexity of  the issue, saying: “The root causes [of migration] need to be focused on, and, of course, they are mutually reinforcing root causes, whether it is conflict, extreme weather, climate change, biodiversity degradation or, of course, political instability … this requires an integrated approach to policy at the European institutional level, and across the globe, across political systems.”

Henrik Fredborg Larsen, speaking for the United Nations Development Programme’s Brussels office, added that a common framework, such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, is helpful when thinking of how policies across sectors can reinforce each other.

Other panelists included MEP Catherine Chabaud and Kalenga Masaidio, an agricultural coordinator at the Kimanya-Ngeyo Foundation, based in Jinja, Uganda.