The first regional Cracking the Nut conference was held in Kigali, Rwanda on January 13-15, 2014. Cracking the Nut Africa convened over 400 participants from 40 countries, making it the largest Cracking the Nut learning event to date. With a mix of development practitioners, donors, investors, bank representatives and private sector professionals, progress was made on cracking the nuts of improving rural livelihoods and food security.
In his opening remarks, USAID Rwanda Mission Director, Peter Malnak, emphasized the importance of the the conference saying “USAID sees the Cracking the Nut conference as an invaluable opportunity to spark collaboration and innovation among diverse stakeholders to address food security, nutrition, and the financial well-being of those in Africa’s rural areas. These issues demand immediate and meaningful attention as they have the power to greatly affect the continent’s development trajectory.”
In the post conference evaluation, participants ranked the conference a 4.2 out of 5.0. For more information including photos, videos and the full participant list, visit the website at www.crackingthenutconference.com.
The Cracking the Nut Africa publication which will summarize the key lessons learned at the conference, will be published in April so stay tuned!