The East and Southern Africa Regional Presentation of the Rural Development Report 2016 will take place on 25 October in Nairobi, Kenya.

Over 70 participants have confirmed their attendance, including 11 representatives of countries from the East and Southern Africa region. High level speakers include Willy Bett, Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of Kenya and Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

Lakshmi Menon, IFAD Associate Vice-President Corporate Services Department, will deliver opening and closing remarks and Sana F.K. Jatta, IFAD Regional Director East and Southern Africa region, will present the report's key findings.

An interactive panel discussion - moderated by renowned Kenyan journalist, Jeff Koinange – will take place with Jackson Njau Kinyanjui (Director, External Resources Department, National Treasury of Kenya); Hans Binswanger (Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa); Gabriel Negatu (Regional Director for Eastern Africa, African Development Bank); Ravi Prabhu (Deputy Director General at the World Agroforestry Centre), and Rui Benfica (Regional Economist, Strategy and Knowledge Department, IFAD).