EVENTS PREVIEW
AFMASS 2016 - June 8-10, 2016, Nairobi, Kenya Meet, interact and trade with top business leaders from the region at AFMASS 2016
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he African Food Manufacturing & Safety Summit (AFMASS) Conference & Expo 2016 is set to be the most critical event for the food and beverage industry in Eastern and Central Africa. AFMASS brings together the biggest names in Africa’s food and beverage industry to define a new era in processing, packaging, distribution, storage and retailing. According to the organisers, the industry in the region has always been in need of a high-level meeting of minds to network, learn and trade that AFMASS offers. Located in the tranquil environment of the Kenya School of Monetary Studies, Nairobi, Kenya, AFMASS provides the best to both exhibitor and delegate – a well-organised conference that covers the most critical issues to the industry, and an exhibition next door where exhibitors can show case their innovations to conference delegates and other visitors. “The industry was quite excited with last year’s event that we hosted – and which focused solely on food safety. From the feedback we got, the profile of delegates
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MARCH 2016 | FOOD BUSINESS AFRICA
and the questions we received at the event, we decided to expand the scope of the event to include the entire food processing, packaging and of course food safety topics into the event,” says Francis Juma, the lead organiser of the event. “The delegates last year were concerned about food safety, but also questions arose about nutrition and health, innovations, process optimisation and the like. By expanding the scope of AFMASS to cover the entire sector, we shall meet the needs of all concerned,” adds Juma AFMASS is poised to be the ultimate event for the food and beverage industry in sub-Sahara Africa, considering the support that the organisers have received so far from within and outside the region. A critical aspect of AFMASS is the focus to incorporate the food and beverage industry business leaders into the discussion of the challenges, opportunities and future trends in the industry. “We believe that we have largely delivered on this goal, with a number of industry leaders confirming to be speakers
and delegates at the conference. We planned to change the game quite significantly, bringing the industry leaders to the forefront of the discussions at AFMASS, be it through presentations or Panel Discussions. We are glad to report that the industry has come out to participate actively at AFMASS,” Juma says.
GMOs, dairy industry in Uganda and regulation of alcohol in Kenya take centre stage
The role of GMOs in the food security situation in Africa, the investment potential of the Dairy Industry in Uganda and the Regulatory environment of the Alcohol industry in Kenya are the three key Panel Discussions at the upcoming African Food Manufacturing & Safety Summit conference & expo 2016. The current El Nino phenomenon (and drought brought by it) in Southern Africa has shown how vulnerable Africa is to food insecurity. Can GMOs be part of the solution to Africa’s food security in future, with climate change knocking on the door? The GMO regulatory space is set to undergo new realignment in the US, with questions around labelling coming into focus. How can Africa’s food industry learn from this realignment? Further, how competitive will Africa’s food and beverage sector be in future, if the current non-GMO stance is maintained or changed? How can Africa remove the barriers to GMO adoption? The milk industry in Uganda has been one of the leading lights in Africa. Investments continue to pour into the sector, but what are the challenges, opportunities, trends and future prospects of the milk sector in Uganda in terms of on farm production, processing and marketing? The year 2015 was a critical one for the alcohol industry in Kenya, with the Government flexing its muscles to control the brewing/distilling of illicit alcohol in the country. The industry further continues to grapple with counterfeit products in FOODBUSINESSAFRICA.COM