Richard Class-Peters advocates for African agricultural research at World Bank conference

Richard Class-Peters, President of the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG), participated in the World Bank Group’s Africa Growth and Opportunity – Research in Action (AGORA) conference in Palermo, Italy. The event, held under the theme “Building Skills for Africa’s Home-Grown Development,” focused on addressing the mismatch between educational training and labor market requirements.

During the conference, Class-Peters called for sustainable financing for agricultural research to enhance food security and boost local production across Africa. He emphasized that increased investment in innovation and the strengthening of farmer cooperatives are essential to transforming local agriculture and reducing reliance on food imports.

The discussions also addressed the need to prepare the African workforce for emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and to expand employment opportunities in sectors like energy and agribusiness to accommodate a projected working-age population increase of 450 million by 2040.