On October 23–24, 2024, the Global Bioeconomy Summit 2024 took place for the first time in Africa, at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. Under the theme “One Planet - Sustainable Bioeconomy Solutions for Global Challenges,” this year’s summit brought together over 500 in-person participants from all the continents of the globe and no less than 3,000 online participants. The discussions underscored an urgent need for sustainable, science-driven solutions in food systems and biodiversity conservation to accelerate the shift to a fossil-free economy. Participation of policymakers from different regions of the world also raised the audience’s awareness of the diversity of bioeconomy systems and strategies, which makes a global approach necessary though challenging.
Among the speakers was Bioceb Coordinator, Professor Stéphanie Baumberger, who contributed to Plenary Session IV, “What Forward: Science, Partnership, Shared Responsibilities, and Joint Platforms; Bioeconomy on the Global Agenda.”
She emphasized the role of cross-continental partnerships in advancing adaptable, locally relevant solutions to strengthen food systems, taking the example of the project Biostar coordinated by the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (Cirad).
The event also featured two Bioceb alumni from the program’s initial cohorts. Khaled Al-Swafey, a Talent4BBI Marie Skłodowska-Curie Ph.D. Scholar, and George William Ssendagala, a Bioeconomy Youth Champion and member of the International Advisory Council on Global Bioeconomy (IACGB). George was also a co-author of the Global Youth Bioeconomy Champions Communique, which was launched alongside the IACGB Communique at the summit’s conclusion.
Stéphanie Baumberger took the opportunity of the summit to visit the University of Nairobi (UoN) with which AgroParisTech cooperates through a tripartite agreement signed with the University of Nairobi, CentraleSupélec and ParisTech (including AgroParisTech) in May 2023. This agreement responds to an initial call for projects launched by AFD (Agence Française de Développement) in 2019 to fund a ‘Complex of Engineering’ in Nairobi and was looking for partners to help the city’s university define the organisation and content of the courses to be offered there.
Stéphanie Baumberger met Prof. Catherine Nkirote Kunyanga (Associate Dean, Faculty of Agriculture) at the Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Technology.
She was welcomed by Prof. David K. Kariuki and Dr. Fredirick Mwazighe at the Chemistry Department of the Faculty of Science and Technology to give a seminar on lignin and lignocellulose as a renewable source of multifunctional plant-based ingredients.
Updated November 2024