Commissioner Sacko urged all
stakeholders to support AU Members States to produce credible biennial review
reports, on the basis of which the continental report will be produced,
emphasizing that, “Renewed partnerships built on mutual accountability will
help governments, the private sector, civil society, farmers and farmers
organizations as well as development partners to deliver on results and impact
for a transformed Agriculture to reach the targets set by the Malabo
Declaration. In addition, the AUC’s Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture
(DREA) Director , Dr. Godfrey Bahiigwa emphasized that, The continental
biennial report will be based on validated country reports by all stakeholders,
including governments, civil society, the private sector and development
partners. The theme of this year’s CAADP PP speaks volumes. We are noting with
satisfaction that for the first time in history, African leaders have set
themselves up for checks and balances to be instituted in Africa’s collective
agricultural development efforts, through the Malabo Declaration. Indeed,
calling for a Biennial Review mechanism to be put in place to track performance
and report progress, both by countries and collectively as a Continent, gives
us cause for hope for a better future of governance in Africa,” said Mrs.
Estherine Fotabong, NEPAD Director of Programmes. Giving a keynote presentation
during the opening session, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for a
Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), underscored the role of agriculture in
driving inclusive economic growth. “Agriculture is Africa’s surest path to
prosperity. Achieving meaningful agriculture transformation requires strong
coordination between partners in a countries-led process,” she said. “AGRA is
delighted to work with the AUC and the NEPAD Agency in supporting countries to
meet their Malabo Declaration commitments which are key to the success of the
transformation push,” she added.
According
to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the world
population will reach 9.1 billion by 2050, and to feed that number of people,
global food production will need to grow by 70%. For Africa, which is projected
to be home to about 2 billion people by then, farm productivity must accelerate
at a faster rate than the global average to avoid continued mass hunger.
African governments and other stakeholders have been urged to encourage the
youth to embrace agriculture and to let them understand that they could make
money from the sector and its value-chains. It should be recalled that the
Malabo Declaration requests the African Union Commission (AUC) and the NEPAD
Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) in collaboration with partner
institutions to: develop mechanisms
that will enhance Africa’s capacity for knowledge and data generation and
management, to strengthen evidence based planning and implementation;
institutionalize a system for peer review that encourages good performance on
achievement of progress made in implementing the provisions of the Declaration
and recognize, biennially, exemplary performance through awards; conduct, on a biennial basis (beginning in
2017), an Agricultural Review Process and, furthermore, launch a process of
reporting on progress made, to the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government
with the Inaugural Biennial Report expected at the January 2018 Ordinary
Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government. The 13th CAADP PP,
brought together over 400 leaders from African Governments, including
parliamentarians from AU Member States, leaders from international
organizations, development partners, private agribusiness firms, farmers, NGOs
and civil society organizations.
BY
TANDONG CALISTUS JONG
Kampala,
Uganda.
