“Non-State Actors Strategizes to Boost Agriculture in the Continent”

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program Non-State Actors Coalition (CNC) members were speaking in Kigali, Rwanda, during their first General Assembly, which spanned from September 13 to 14, 2017 held under the theme: Mobilizing Civil Agency for Africa’s Agricultural Transformation.

Non-Stakeholders at the General Assembly also harped on creating more awareness on the importance of investing in high value nutritive foods and agricultural commodities in order to promote nutrition and food security on the continent, facilitate dialogue among Farmers’ organizations, private business entities and Africa’s academic and research institutions, deliberating on options leading to developing of continental action plan to ending hunger and malnutrition and share best practices and innovations to women’s empowerment, among others. 

The CAADP Non-State Actors Coalition (CNC) is a Continental Coalition that was established in 2014 with the sole aim of satisfying the need for increased and more structured engagement of Non-State Actors (NSAs) in the implementation processes of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). Accordingly, the CNC was founded on three very well-focused cardinal objectives: creating awareness on CAADP among NSAs for their improved involvement in CAADP implementation at all levels; advocating for policy reforms towards effective CAADP implementation in line with the Malabo Declaration, and; strengthening coordination among NSAs in the CAADP process.  

Towards ensuring the realization of CNC’s noble objectives, several strategies and frameworks have been designed, and are progressively being deployed to facilitate NSA engagement in the CAADP process. The progress made by the CNC in articulating Non-State Actors voice in CAADP implementation processes at all levels cannot be overemphasized. In fact, despite its current formative stage of development, the CNC has progressively asserted itself as a veritable partner in the CAADP process, by increasingly developing programs that complement the efforts made by the African Union Commission, the NEPAD Agency, Member States and Development Partners. As part of this, the coalition has been working across the continent to help deepen the impact of CAADP implementation through different programs and initiatives.

It has done that through sensitization and capacity building activities to create awareness on CAADP, progressively instituting national Platforms Program at the country level, convening Pre-Meetings to the yearly Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform (PP) meetings as well as participating in relevant decision-making and consultative forums with other CAADP Partners. These activities have effectively strengthened coordination between the coalition and other CAADP stakeholders, especially the AUC/ NPCA towards deepening NSAs perspectives in the CAADP implementation process.

TANDONG CALISTUS JONG

Kigali, Rwanda