The 10th edition of the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa will take place in 2022  in Bahir Dar in hybrid format under the theme, “Managing Security Threats: Building Resilience for the Africa We Want”. In line with this, the Secretariat has organized Tana Forum 2022 Ambassadors’ Briefing Session which aims at briefing, promoting and engaging with Addis-based Ambassadors and AU Officials on the forum, its objectives, topic, theme, confirmed speakers, participation and envisioned outcomes. It is expected that at the end of the briefing session Ambassadors will be sensitized, acquainted on the Tana Forum topic and equipped with factual information. This will enable Ambassadors to share updated and relevant information with their authorities in their respective countries and enjoy another networking platform on the given Tana Forum topic and other common and pertinent matters in peace and security. 

With the view to seize the presence of the diplomatic community and also gather further input for the main forum, the Secretariat has organized a short roundtable on  topic that resonates with the main forum i.e., ‘Strengthening Resilience and Food Security in Africa’. The series of global events of the 2020s have now led to a surge in global food among others. The world has faced the threat of massive hunger and starvation following a spike in food prices in the past and this would not be the first time.  In 2007-2008 and in 2010-2011 food prices suddenly increased following a three-decade hiatus when food prices were stable and low. However, the current surge increase in food prices is unique and by far the highest since 1961 surpassing the surge recorded in the first half of the 1970s, during the infamous 1973 Oil Crisis.  The cost of food has gone as high as 42% which is worse than what was recorded in 2014-2016 taking place simultaneously with food insecurity. Following the pandemic 161 million people fell into hunger between 2019 and 2020, making a total to 811 million people facing food insufficiency globally. One in 10 people in the world went to bed without enough nutrition in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Resulting from consecutive droughts in the Horn and East Africa, locust swarm, flood drought, conflict and impacts of COVID in the West along with international shocks following the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, Africa has been predominantly susceptible to food insecurity. In the months following the pandemic between 2019 and 2020, 46 million people faced hunger.  In 2020, 21% of the population on the continent suffered from hunger which is a total of 282 million people in Africa making it a continent with a higher percentage of its population anguishing from food insecurity. In addition, the impacts of multiple attacks of disease and illness, joblessness, and absence of social protection can lead to long-standing poverty and destitution. The roundtable seeks to foster deeper understanding of the situation, assess current responses, lessons learnt and challenges faced and propose workable solutions.