Regional parliaments are reiterating the need for the full and speedy implementation of declarations, protocols and policies related to the agricultural sector by respective Member States. At the same time, the adherence to the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) which seeks to enhance agricultural sector performance, better policies and building of capacities and investment programs by the continent is fundamental.
Consequently, political will remains critical in the dispensation and a driving factor towards agricultural transformation in order to boost competitiveness and enhance value addition in the important sector.
The recommendations were arrived at during the three- day “regional parliamentarian dialogue on enhancing competitiveness through increased investments in agricultural value chains in Africa” in Abuja, Nigeria
Addressing participants, EALA Member, Hon Clarkson Otieno Karan noted that the EAC had committed to ensuring the implementation of the Strategy and the Action Plan for Food Security adopted by the EAC Heads of State in December 2010.
“As an Assembly, we shall see to it that we implement the EAC Food Security Action Plan 2010 and that the East African Community enacts regional legislation thus providing legal framework ensuring co-ordinated regional approach to issues of Food Security and Climate Change”, Hon Karan said.
Hon Karan informed the meeting that EALA had made a number of recommendations to the Partner States following the adoption by the House in January 2011 of the Report on the Regional Dialogue on the Politics of Food Security in Eastern Africa. The report among other things encourages the EAC to implement the Maputo Declaration which inter alia calls on Partner States to allocate 10 per cent of their national budgets to agriculture. It also urges that food and trade matters be made a priority as the region implements the EAC Common Market protocol
On matters of food aid, the report maintains that emergency food aid should always be linked to long term development of food supply systems by emphasising that such food should be first be procured from within EAC wherever possible, and the process of supply should include investments in the affected area.
The recommendations, Hon Karan stated are in line with the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) which is a subject of great interest at the on-going Abuja dialogue. The CAADP process has been enhanced by the African Heads of State and Government as a vision for the restoration of agricultural growth, food security and rural development in Africa. A specific goal of CAADP is to attain an average annual growth rate of 6 per cent in agriculture.
On her part, the Chairperson of the Agricultural Committee of ECOWAS Parliament, Hon Hadizatou Mousa Gros, noted that agriculture continued to be the engine of economic growth but attributed the increasing level of poverty to low investments in agriculture. Hon Gros called for the strengthening and promotion of agricultural systems, monitoring and ensuring strategies of disaster management and preparedness and the formulation of agricultural strategies, monitoring and evaluation through participatory approach methods, as key in ensuring competitiveness in the sector.
The meeting organized by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) ends tomorrow, Friday, October 8, 2011.
END
The recommendations were arrived at during the three- day “regional parliamentarian dialogue on enhancing competitiveness through increased investments in agricultural value chains in Africa” in Abuja, Nigeria
Addressing participants, EALA Member, Hon Clarkson Otieno Karan noted that the EAC had committed to ensuring the implementation of the Strategy and the Action Plan for Food Security adopted by the EAC Heads of State in December 2010.
“As an Assembly, we shall see to it that we implement the EAC Food Security Action Plan 2010 and that the East African Community enacts regional legislation thus providing legal framework ensuring co-ordinated regional approach to issues of Food Security and Climate Change”, Hon Karan said.
Hon Karan informed the meeting that EALA had made a number of recommendations to the Partner States following the adoption by the House in January 2011 of the Report on the Regional Dialogue on the Politics of Food Security in Eastern Africa. The report among other things encourages the EAC to implement the Maputo Declaration which inter alia calls on Partner States to allocate 10 per cent of their national budgets to agriculture. It also urges that food and trade matters be made a priority as the region implements the EAC Common Market protocol
On matters of food aid, the report maintains that emergency food aid should always be linked to long term development of food supply systems by emphasising that such food should be first be procured from within EAC wherever possible, and the process of supply should include investments in the affected area.
The recommendations, Hon Karan stated are in line with the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) which is a subject of great interest at the on-going Abuja dialogue. The CAADP process has been enhanced by the African Heads of State and Government as a vision for the restoration of agricultural growth, food security and rural development in Africa. A specific goal of CAADP is to attain an average annual growth rate of 6 per cent in agriculture.
On her part, the Chairperson of the Agricultural Committee of ECOWAS Parliament, Hon Hadizatou Mousa Gros, noted that agriculture continued to be the engine of economic growth but attributed the increasing level of poverty to low investments in agriculture. Hon Gros called for the strengthening and promotion of agricultural systems, monitoring and ensuring strategies of disaster management and preparedness and the formulation of agricultural strategies, monitoring and evaluation through participatory approach methods, as key in ensuring competitiveness in the sector.
The meeting organized by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) ends tomorrow, Friday, October 8, 2011.
END
NOTE TO EDITORS
Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa (FARA) is a continent wide umbrella organization bringing together and forming coalitions of major stakeholders in agricultural research and development in Africa. The vision of FARA is for African agriculture to become vibrant and competitive in the international market, growing at a rate of at least 6% per annum by the year 2020.
FARA is the technical arm of the African Union Commission on rural economy and agricultural development and the lead agency of AU’s new partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) to implement the fourth pillar of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) involving agricultural research, technology dissemination and uptake.
Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa (FARA) is a continent wide umbrella organization bringing together and forming coalitions of major stakeholders in agricultural research and development in Africa. The vision of FARA is for African agriculture to become vibrant and competitive in the international market, growing at a rate of at least 6% per annum by the year 2020.
FARA is the technical arm of the African Union Commission on rural economy and agricultural development and the lead agency of AU’s new partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) to implement the fourth pillar of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) involving agricultural research, technology dissemination and uptake.
CONTACTS
For More Information, contact: Bobi Odiko, Senior Public Relations Officer; East African Legislative Assembly; Tel: +255-27-2508240 Cell: +255 787 870945, +254-733-718036; Email: bodiko@eachq.org Web: https://www.eala.org Arusha, Tanzania.
