ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, May 2, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Yesterday, the official opening for the Ministerial Session of the AU Joint Conference of Agriculture, Rural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture opened with calls for renewed commitment to the actions agreed to in 2003 when the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) was launched.
The opening session was graced by dignitaries including, African Union Member States’ Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture and Chairs of other sector ministerial bodies, Development partners, Regional Economic Communities, African and international organisations, farmers’ organisations and non-state actors.
The call to African Countries to renew their commitments to accelerate the implementation of CAADP comes in the wake of 2014 being declared the Year of Agriculture and Food Security in Africa by the 22nd Ordinary Session of the African Union Heads of State and Government and marking the 10th Anniversary of the Adoption of the CAADP. It is a call to sustain the CAADP Momentum and to look to the next decade of agricultural transformation for Africa.
The official opening was made by H.E. Mr. Sileshi Getahun, State Minister of Agriculture of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, who called for the need to develop appropriate strategies to realise the attainment of food security.
African Union Commission, Deputy Chairperson H.E. Mr. Erastus Mwencha, stressed the significance of effective implementation of agreed strategies and policies in the agricultural agenda and defining the continents future by, “seizing the opportunity to take stock of our collective efforts, review the progress that we have made in the last decade, acknowledge associated challenges and chart a new way forward toward sustaining the momentum by focusing on implementation.”
And speaking on behalf of the development partners, Roberto Ridolfi, Director of Sustainable Development at Europe Aid said, “The African Union’s decision to make 2014 the African Year of Agriculture and Food Security is giving agricultural policies a renewed thrust for the next decade. Development partners, many of them long standing CAADP supporters, recognise that agriculture has the potential of growing millions of smallholders out of poverty. As a consequence, an inclusive and sustainable agricultural development figures high on our development agendas.”
Other speakers included President of the Pan-African Farmers Organization, Mr. Bagna Djibo who appealed to the meeting to include farmer organisations in their decision making processes regarding agricultural development. He further emphasized on the importance of implementation of policies, the need to develop inter-African trade, improved access to land, effective allocated fund utilization and the need for centralized leadership as a means to improving food security and farming in general in the continent.
FAO Assistant Director General, Tijani Bukar on behalf of technical partners expressed his appreciation of the CAADP Results Framework as a guide to important areas of agricultural goals and the means to their attainment.
AUC Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, H.E Tumusiime Rhoda Peace in a key note address said, “The agriculture future we want should be one of a competitive food and agriculture system, which meets the fast-growing and diversifying agri-food demands of intra-African local, national and regional markets and, beyond, responding increasingly to the demands of a growing and exigent global market. The first call for Africa’s agri-food systems is to get preferential access to and conquer the intra-African market which, under the combined effects of the continent’s population growth (about 3% per year), strong income growth (at 5% or more over the last decade) and rapid urbanization (at the annual pace of 5%), are demanding for more quality, diversified and convenient food and agricultural products.”
Also presenting a key note address, New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency CEO, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, outlined priority actions for the next decade of CAADP, which included the need to; implement policies that create an enabling environment; empower practitioners on the agricultural value chain; mobilize domestic public and private resources as primary sources of investment and link agriculture to broad based rural development goals and strategies, among others.
The conference which ends today, aims to produce plans for the next 10 years along with solid strategies for taking CAADP forward.
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