Thank you to the members of the committee for inviting me to participate in this important and timely study. Canada's approach to Africa has been an ongoing discussion, and I'm happy to share some comments on the topic.

As a network of 15 Canadian church-based relief and development agencies, Canadian Foodgrains Bank is delivering food to people in humanitarian crises and helping farmers adapt their farming practices to the changing climate in order to build sustainable food security for the future. An example of this is our ongoing Nature+ project funded by Global Affairs Canada through the partnering for climate initiative.

Now we're undertaking this work in the context of 158 million people in sub-Saharan Africa facing high levels of acute food insecurity and 30 million people acutely malnourished in 2023 alone. Between 2022 and 2023, Canadian Foodgrains Bank implemented 88 projects in 21 African countries, serving over 700,000 people, including responding to the hunger crisis in east Africa as part of the Humanitarian Coalition.

You've heard from witnesses who have testified before this committee about issues of political stability, trade opportunities and advancing and protecting Canadian interests. What is clear from that testimony is that Canada has the opportunity to increase its influence as other powers are seeing theirs decline, but only if we increase our investments in a holistic fashion. We have three recommendations to make.

The first one is the centrality of a comprehensive and strategic humanitarian and development assistance plan. In tackling foreign policy, we need to take account of the three Ds and T: diplomacy, defence, development and trade.

Development is a central element of this matrix and needs to be considered at the same level as the other three. We can't ignore the growing humanitarian and development needs on the continent, given the significant number of persons who are acutely food insecure in sub-Saharan Africa and the Sahel.

This committee has already heard testimony from Professor Tieku of Western University, who is saying to fix food insecurity and, chances are, you'll get better stability. I agree with that statement. If development needs are not met, the other Ds and T are in jeopardy.

Saving lives and reducing poverty are not new for Canada. It's what our intelligently applied aid does, but our approach in each region, particularly in Africa, needs to be strategic and not piecemeal. From our own work, Foodgrains Bank has strong evidence that aid is a smart investment.

For example, between 2015 and 2020, with support from the Canadian government, we implemented a project that improved the lives of over 60,000 families in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. The goal was to improve livelihoods for small holding farming households by scaling up conservation agriculture. That's a process that helps build climate resilient food systems.

This project led to improvement in family income, food security and healthier soils, and it built resilience for the future. The project also improved gender equality, both in the field and in marketing, where women's incomes increased by 40%. In fact, in Ethiopia, the government developed a national program to promote conservation agriculture as a result of this project.

I visited the farm of one of the project participants in Ethiopia, a woman called Asnakech Zema, and I saw how this project not only has increased her resource base but has elevated her dignity and stature in the community. She told us, “My family now has food year-round, and they have given us income during the lean months.”

Jane Njeri, a project participant in Kenya, also told us, “Now, after adopting conservation agriculture, we have more food using less land.... We get more than double the amount of food we used to.”

It's apparent that putting in efforts in development and humanitarian assistance not only provides stability but also empowers transformation in communities and nations.

My second recommendation is on mutually beneficial partnership and collaboration. Other witnesses before this committee have pointed to the African Union agenda of 2063 as a guiding strategic document that could and should inform Canada's approach.

I agree that it's not just about what we can get out of the relationship, which has never been Canada's approach or agenda. Rather, it's about assessing how Africa's future is defined and seeing how we can contribute to the goals Africans have set for themselves, which advances our ability to work with them collaboratively across the spectrum of the three Ds and T and as we grow together.

My final recommendation is on the positioning of Canada. Engaging in Africa is in Canada's interest. We've seen China and Russia expanding their influence, with African leaders turning towards them as other countries have turned away.

In this critical time for the future of a continent that has so much to offer the world, Canada is in a unique position to choose to step forward and show what principled leadership could look like. As such, our aid commitments are key to how we are viewed. They stand alongside our diplomatic and trade efforts in not only bolstering our place in the world but also ensuring that, in the years to come, it is a more just and fair one.

Thanks for your attention.