By Denis Jjuuko

The 6^th CAADP Partnership Platform meeting has come to an end with African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Her Excellency Rhoda Peace Tumusiime emphasising the need for concrete plans and action to build capacity at country level.

Participants in attendance at the 6th CAADP PP

“This partnership platform meeting has highlighted our efforts to realize the CAADP objectives and has accorded us an opportunity to compare notes from different regions,” she added.

She expressed the need for the continued engagement of farmers’ organizations saying that “countries whose agricultural economies have developed have done so with support from such associations.”

She reiterated the commitment of the African Union Commission (AUC), Nepad Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA), and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in enhancing the need of having more countries sign CAADP compacts and to ensure that those that have signed move on to the next stage with their technical reviews and investment plans.

In a communiqué presented at the end of the meeting, delegates highlighting the need for CAADP implementers at all levels to acquire and improve CAADP related skills for the smooth delivery of the programme’s goals.

The participants also stressed the need for prioritizing the capacity support that will be delivered and differentiate between the support of existing capacities and the creation of new skills as well as addressing the different layers of capacity building at different levels and ensure that there is impact on the ground. The delegates further agreed that there is need to identify African institutions that will deliver on the capacity support and their ability to do so.

The delegates numbering over 200 from different parts of the world recommended the need for post-compact roadmap for the remainder of 2010 to focus on countries which have already signed compacts so that technical reviews and business meetings are carried out before the end of the year.

There was also recognition that all parties should ensure sufficient country leadership in the post compact process as well as inclusiveness to allow participation of farmer organizations, the private sector, and civil society organisations.

By Denis Jjuuko

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) play a key a role in the implementation processes of CAADP, delegates at the ongoing 6^th CAADP Partnership Platform meeting heard this morning. The meeting is currently in its final day at the Birchwood Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The civil society can introduce the ideas and voices of society into the process helping farmers take ownership of CAADP. “We can mobilize citizens and farmers in particular through information dissemination about CAADP,” says Abel Gbetononmon from the ECOWAS region.

He added that civil society organizations are also instrumental in the mobilization of resources as well as monitoring budgets and ensuring that the money is well spent. “We can help in assuring that the needs of the population are met through appropriate mechanisms that monitor the budgetary processes of countries that have signed CAADP compacts.”

Additionally, he says, these organizations can play a significant role in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals when it comes to the agricultural sector. CSOs provide input supply services such as fertilizers and seeds as well as market infrastructure development.

Market infrastructure may include storage, grading, packaging, and processing which is an integral component of CAADP Pillar Three that calls for the improvement of rural infrastructure and trade-related capacities for market access.

By Denis Jjuuko

Rwanda is currently on everybody’s lips. They are showing to everybody how CAADP should be implemented. In every session so far at the ongoing 6th CAADP Platform Partnership meeting, Rwanda is cited as the model. Every delegate wants to know what is happening at the country famously known as the place of a thousand hills.

President Paul Kagame’s government has opened their doors allowing partners to know what they are doing. One delegate said that “they have the ingredients needed to succeed.” And that their experience should be shared by everybody.

Dr. Sam Kanyarukiga, the senior Agricultural Advisor and CAADP Coordinator at the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and a Rwandan national says that the country is succeeding because they have among other things set up the Agricultural Working Group that meets monthly to review progress made and see how to continue moving forward. “The minister of agriculture coordinates this platform and the entire agriculture agenda is under CAADP,” he says.

Annually, Dr. Kanyarukiga says “the Joint Agriculture Review meets to forge a way forward.” This particular one is important because it involves the entire government with ministries such as Finance and Economic Planning involved making everybody especially at policy level aware of what is taking place in the sector. There are several other general meetings that take place to ensure that CAADP’s implementation process progresses.

With such commitment at the very senior level, no wonder Rwanda is keeping everybody here in Johannesburg talking and wanting to learn more about a revolution currently underway in Kigali.

By Denis Jjuuko

The 6th CAADP Partnership Platform meeting is under way in Johannesburg, South Africa with hundreds of delegates making the Atrium Centre the busiest part of the Birchwood Hotel. Even China is represented, implying the global outlook of CAADP.

Prof. Richard Mkandawire, Adviser on Agriculture and Head of CAADP at the NPCA ,presided over the opening ceremony for the meeting whose objectives include reviewing the progress, performance, and challenges in advancing CAADP’s agenda. Martin Bwalya, also of CAADP, expounded on this, singling out Rwanda as a country that is demonstrating achievements in terms of financing and as a key example of how CAADP should be implemented.

Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, the CEO of NPCA, took over from there insisting that “Africa’s development will be led by agriculture.” As a former Prime Minister of Niger, Dr. Mayaki’s remark should be taken seriously because he knows how implementation affects even the most thought-out agendas. No wonder his next few minutes were dedicated to challenging Africa to think how she can move CAADP from a theory framework to a practical tool that fosters development.

He reminded every country to avoid being selfish, as well as insisting that “we are all working for people on the ground.” This is a challenge to ensure that tangible results are realised.

The African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rhodah Peace Tumusiime, called for the acceleration of support for countries that are yet to sign the CAADP Compact as well as those that have signed to formulate their implementation plans. So far, 18 African countries have signed the Compact.

As most delegates converged for a tea break to network and individually deliberate on the future of CAADP, the leadership of the programme was busy fielding questions from journalists across the continent at a well-attended press conference.  Mrs Tumusiime noted that the leadership of the continent has set a target of 6% growth in agriculture and that 10% of every country’s budget should be set aside for agriculture.

“Most countries developed by fast tracking the growth and development of agriculture. We need to put agriculture first,” she emphasised.

And Rwanda’s example of a strong vision on agriculture coupled with the country’s commitment, leadership and support to its farmers should be replicated elsewhere.

Denis Jiuuko

A well-know figure in African journalism and former media consultant to the United Nations, Denis Jjuuko, will be reporting on the 6th Partnership Platform meeting of the CAADP now being held in Johannesburg and providing regular updates on the CAADP blog this Thursday and Friday, 22-23 April. The theme of the meeting is post-CAADP Compact implementation.

Denis holds an MA in journalism and media studies from South Africa’s Rhodes University and a B.Mass Communication from Makerere University in Uganda.

He has consulted for a number of organisations including GTZ, Greenpeace, Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation, Blue Finance, and BAT among others.

He previously worked as a journalist and continues to write for newspapers and other publications. He also teaches journalism at Nkumba University in Uganda.

By Hajia Sani reporting in the Nigerian newspaper NEXT, 22 March

Africa is arguably one of the most endowed continents of the world in terms of arable land mass. The continent’s geographical location and tropical weather, as well as its diversely rich soil content, give it added advantage for massive agricultural activities. A majority of Africans engage in one form of farming or the other, albeit at subsistence scale.

A fruit vendor in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Photo by CAADP

However, factors responsible for Africa’s under-productivity in agriculture include inconsistencies in policies, insufficient financing, low level mechanisation and industrialisation, as well as poor pre and post harvest management of products.

For many Africans, food insecurity and poverty continue to affect daily survival as a result of continuing reduction in soil nutrients and fertility, continuous decline in farming activities, leading to a hike in the cost of staple foods; as well as rising cost of farm and farming technologies.

While, across the continent, a number of countries have been making some efforts to improve their agricultural output, many remain constrained by the factors enumerated earlier, thus further limiting Africa’s ability to meet the goals of income growth, increased food security and improved social well being of its population.

The emerging consensus today is for agriculture to take the central focal point of the continent’s economic development. This will require that investments in agriculture go beyond the current stop-gap improvements in on-farm productivity to include large-scale development of the agri-business and agro-industrial sectors.

Following up on the consensus, African governments, in collaboration with international development partners, formulated an African Agribusiness and Agro-industries initiative (3ADI), designed to provide a continent-wide support for the development of the agri-business and agro-industrial sectors.

The initiative builds on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) commitment of the African Union. The CAADP seeks to create, by the year 2020, an agricultural sector in Africa that consists of highly productive and profitable value chains and accessible and competitive local and international markets. This is expected to translate into the supply of higher-value food, fibre, feed and fuel products, increased farmers’ incomes, high quality employment and optimal and sustainable utilisation of natural resources.

One of the objectives of the 3ADI is to mobilise resources from domestic and international financial systems, for a more comprehensive private sector investment and participation in the agriculture sector in Africa, towards meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of halving poverty and hunger by the year 2015.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), in its 2009 Economic Report for Africa, also recognises agribusiness and agro-industries as a path-way to agriculture-led economic transformation in Africa and the commission is also spear-heading advocacy in this regard.

Against this background, a High Level Conference on the Development of Agribusiness and Agro-industries in Africa was held in Abuja, Nigeria, from 8-10 March, with the mandate to review and approve a programme framework and an associated financial facility for the development of agri-business and agro-industries in Africa.

For the populations of Africa, the hope is that this will not become yet another ‘all-talk, no-work’ white-elephant initiative that will fizzle out in the not-too-distant future.

Significantly, intervention strategies for a comprehensive continent-wide implementation of the initiative will necessarily need to focus on the formulation of enabling policies, reinforcing financing and risk mechanisms through the creation of innovative institutions and services, as well as the provision of requisite skills and technologies for the post-production segments of the value chains.

The announcement by Abba Sayyadi Ruma, the immediate past minister of agriculture and water resources, that Nigeria is already discussing the establishment of a committee to draw up the fine lines of the country’s own implementation plan, is therefore cheering news. The committee is expected to comprise technocrats from the private sector, UN agencies and officials of the ministries of agriculture and water resources, as well as the commerce and industry.

Given the pivotal potential that the 3ADI possess - promoted by African governments and agencies, continental and international development partners and especially the private sector who will provide the financial back-up for the initiative - it is critical that the framework of the HLCD-3A is translated to sustainable and efficient action plans for alleviating poverty among Africans and, indeed, the world.

Read more at: http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Money/Business/5543957-147/story.csp

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank Group, supported by the European Union, on 7 April announced a major initiative to boost private sector agriculture output in Southern Africa to help the region meet a growing demand for food, and to support economic growth and job creation.

To launch the initiative, IFC, the World Bank, and the European Union hosted a Regional Agricultural and Food Security Forum from 6-9 April in Livingstone, Zambia, attended by industry leaders, private and public sector partners, financial institutions, farmer organisations, and civil society groups.

Participants discussed ways to help emergent and small-scale farmers more easily access finance, and improve the quantity and quality of their products.

The forum was  supported by the Netherlands’ Rabobank and the Zambia National Commercial Bank, and facilitated by Dalberg.

Peter Daka, Zambia’s Minister of Agriculture, said, “Broader access to agriculture finance will require both public and private finance to support high impact interventions. Finding a formula for a sustainable partnership between the two will stimulate private sector led agriculture growth in the region.”

Karen Brooks, Sector Manager for the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank, said, “Agriculture plays a critical role in Africa’s economic development and is a priority sector for IFC and the World Bank Group on the continent. The World Bank Group and its partners are supporting private-sector -ed growth across Africa’s agriculture sector to help commercialize subsistence agriculture.”

Francesca Di Mauro, Head of Section Economics and Rural development from the European Union Delegation in Zambia, said, “Agriculture is the main employer for most countries in Southern Africa, and has the potential to lift many people out of poverty. The European Union fully recognises agriculuture’s pivotal role and promotes a private-sector led development of the sector, with predictable government policies, and an enabling environment for small-scale farmers.”

IFC is increasing support for African agribusiness in response to growing demand and rising prices for basic crops, a combination that threatens to send millions back into poverty. IFC’s direct investments and investments through financial intermediaries into African agribusiness companies totaled $160 million in FY09.

IFC launched the Africa Agriculture Finance Project (AAFP) in September 2009 to support farmers across sub-Saharan Africa. A program in Zambia was the first project to be rolled out under the AAFP.

IFC is the only international financial institution focused exclusively on the private sector, the engine of sustainable development in emerging markets. Along with IBRD, IFC is currently seeking a capital increase to strengthen its ability to create opportunity for the poor in developing countries—including supporting the growth of Africa’s important agriculture sector

IFC is a member of the World Bank Group.

(Source: The Financial global news channel – http://www.finchannel.com/Main_News/Business/61784_World_Bank_Group_Launches_Drive_to_Support_Agribusiness_Growth_in_Southern_Africa)

Interview with the Minister Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fishing–Gregoire Akofodji. Interview is in French.

Remarks made by Dr. Janet Edeme of the African Union’s Department for Rural Economy and Agriculture at Liberia’s CAADP Compact signing ceremony. 15-16 October 2009. Monrovia, Liberia.

ECOWAS Commissioner for Agriculture Salifou Ousseni.
This clip highlights some of the remarks made by key participants at the Liberia’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Roundtable and Compact signing ceremonies. Monrovia, Liberia, 15-16 October 2009.