Par Roukiattou Ouédraogo

Plus de 260 délégués, en provenance de 27 pays sont mobilisés au chevet de l’agriculture africaine à Yaoundé, au Cameroun du 23 au 25 mars.

Réunis à l’occasion de La 7ème Réunion de la Plateforme de Partenariat du Programme Détaillé pour le Développement de l’Agriculture Africaine (PDDAA), ces représentants du secteur public, de la société civile et du secteur privé africains, passeront au peigne fin la problématique de « la responsabilité mutuelle dans la formulation et la mise en œuvre des plans d’investissement des pays membres du PDDAA».

Les travaux de cette réunion ont été officiellement lancés, ce mercredi 23 mars, dans la salle de conférence de l’Hôtel Hilton dans la belle cité des sept collines.
Cette cérémonie a enregistré la présence effective de hautes personnalités du Cameroun, des institutions de l’Union Africaine et des partenaires au développement de l’agriculture dont les portes paroles ont tour à tour délivré des messages de positionnement et d’engagement pour une agriculture africaine prospère.

Après avoir salué et souhaité la bienvenue aux participants, M Abebe Haile Gabriel, modérateur de la session a notifié que l’agriculture africaine vient de loin. « Même si nous sommes convaincus que nous sommes sur les rails avec la mise en œuvre du PDDAA, beaucoup reste à faire pour atteindre les objectifs visés par cette initiative » avoue t-il. Abebe Haile a par ailleurs, rappelé à l’assistance que cette réunion est un cadre d’échange, de partage d’expérience et le lieu pour débattre sur les perspectives du PDDAA. Cette initiative qui se veut par définition un partenariat ayant vocation à rassembler les acteurs gouvernementaux et non gouvernementaux, et à mobiliser les efforts des partenaires internationaux à l’appui de l’agriculture du continent et autour d’une vision et d’une ambition commune pour l’Afrique.

La responsabilité des parties prenantes au cœur des débats
Le Directeur exécutif du PDDAA, M. Martin Bwalya, dans son mot de remarques liminaires dira qu’à l’ occasion de cette 7ième réunion du PDDAA, les discussions seront accentuées sur la problématique de la responsabilité mutuelle des parties prenantes pour un réel succès du processus.
Durant, les trois jours d’échange sur la revue mutuelle des progrès et le dialogue autour des défis et des perspectives, les acteurs s’engageront davantage pour savoir ce qu’il faut faire pour relever les nouveaux défis a-t-il précisé.

M. Bwalya a donc appelé les acteurs à associer leur énergies collectives et actions pour soutenir la mise en œuvre du programme qu’il coordonne. Il a terminé ces propos, en saluant vivement la bonne collaboration avec le gouvernement camerounais, dont l’implication a permit une bonne préparation de la rencontre.

Des Partenaires au développement fiers des succès du PDDAA
Les discours officiels ont été ouverts par Mme Sonja Palm, représentante de la coopération allemande, présidente du groupe des partenaires au développement engagé dans le processus du PDDAA. Sonja Palm, a souligné les progrès réels et concrets engrangés par le PDDAA au cours de l’année 2010.

A cet effet, elle a égrené une série de succès, dont on retient entre autre l’existence d’un dispositif fonctionnel qui consolide la culture de partenariat entre les différentes parties prenante du secteur agricole, la signature effective par 15 pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest du compact, faisant passer à 24 le nombre de pays signataires, 18 pays disposant de leur plan d’investissement et la participation de 12 pays à des business meeting.

Rappelant que 2011 est encore une nouvelle année de défis, la porte parole des partenaires au développement a souhaité que les acteurs engagés visent plus de résultats concrètes pour une transformation des différents plans en action afin de réduire durablement la pauvreté et l’insécurité alimentaire en Afrique.

Pour nous, plaida Mme Sonja, « Il s’agit maintenant de mettre l’accent sur la qualité des investissements à réaliser, de travailler à avoir des ressources humaines et financières pour une mise en œuvre efficace de ces plans, de promouvoir une coalition forte pour le changement avec plus de partenariat pour un changement durable » Elle a terminé ces propos, en réintégrant leurs engagements pour accompagner l’agriculture africaine pour le développement durable du continent.

Le PPDAA, un modèle de développement
Avant de livré son discours, Le Dr Ibrahima Assane Mayaki, Directeur Général, de l’agence de planification du NEPAD a quant à lui demandé une pensée pour le Japon. Il a souligné et notifié l’engagement du Japon dans les actions de développement en Afrique et particulièrement dans le domaine agricole.

Puis dans une allocution passionné et puissante, le Dr Mayaki a fait la genèse du PDDAA, et les logiques qui soutendent cette initiative comme modèle de développement. le PDDAA, lors de sa mise en place en 2003, rappela t-il avait pour mission de trouver des solutions aux problèmes du secteur agricole en de réduisant le déficit en matière de stratégie dans le secteur. C’est pourquoi, dira t-il que le PDDAA, n’est pas un processus sans fin, avec de la bureaucratie. « Mais plutôt un processus inclusif qui se matérialise par un processus de développement de l’Afrique basé sur l’agriculture ».

Il a interpellé chaque acteur sur la nécessité à respecter son rôle dans ce processus. Puis d’ajouter que les principaux acteurs principaux dans la mise en œuvre du PDDAA restent les communautés économiques régionales et les Etats africains. En tant que parties prenantes «n’oublions pas notre rôle fondamentale qui est de soutenir ce niveau régional et le niveau national à travers le renforcement du processus de ces deux acteurs » a-t-il demandé. le Dr Mayaki a à cet effet, prôné la culture de la transparence dans tous ces processus.

L’effort des états engagés reconnu
La commissaire à l’économie rurale et à l’agriculture, Mme Tumusiine Rhoda Peace à quant à elle encouragé les pays qui se sont engagé et investit dans le PDDAA. Elle a salué tous les pays qui ont signé le PDDAA et augmenté leur investissement public dans le secteur agricole d’au moins 10%. Ceci est la démonstration de la place centrale qu’occupe désormais l’agriculture et la recherche de la sécurité alimentaire dans l’agenda des décideurs africains s’est réjouit Mme Tumusiinne.

Pour elle, les communautés économiques régionales sont les piliers de la mise en œuvre de cette nouvelle vision de l’agriculture africaine. Reconnaissant la place des partenaires au développement dans le succès du processus, elle a salué leur engagement à accompagner cette vision de l’Afrique de faire de l’agriculture l’épine dorsale du développement du continent. Aujourd’hui dira t-elle la qualité des plans nationaux d’investissement agricole élaboré par les Etats permet à plusieurs d’entre eux de mobiliser des fonds auprès des fonds internationaux de lutte contre l’insécurité alimentaire. En se félicitant des partenariats développés autour du PDDAA, elle interpelle sur la nécessité de poursuivre la volonté au plus haut niveau. Mme Tusimine a également salué le caractère inclusif de ce processus qui implique dans sa mise en œuvre les OSC et le secteur privé. Si nous continuons à travailler ensemble nous allons relever le défi a-t-elle conclu.

Les autorités camerounaises manifestent leur engagement
Le mot de lancement officiel, a été livré par L’Honorable Victor Mengot, Ministre chargé de mission auprès de la Présidence camerounaise. Représentant son excellence Paul Biya, dans le comité de pilotage du NEPAD, il s’est réjouit du choix de son pays pour abriter cette réunion continentale. Pour le Ministre Mengot, cela vient conforter la détermination du Cameroun s’engager et à soutenir le processus. Aussi, ce programme du NEPAD, est en phase avec les axes stratégiques nationaux du gouvernement camerounais, toute chose qui démontre notre intérêt pour le processus lance t-il. Avant de déclarer ouvert les travaux, il a rendu un vibrant hommage au NEPAD et à l’Union Africaine pour leur engagement pour une Afrique prospère.

The meeting takes place at a time when global dialogue is focused on agricultural performance, food security and climate change.

By Zachary Ochieng

YAOUNDE—-The 7th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform meeting kicked off in Yaounde today under the auspices of the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency (NPCA) and the African Union Commission.

The delegates are expected to place strong emphasis on the issue of mutual accountability, capacity development and involvement of non-state actors in the formulation and implementation of country CAADP investment plans.

According to African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, the meeting takes place at a time when international and global dialogue is currently focused on agricultural performance, food security and climate change.

“This meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss accountability in policy design and the ways to improve agriculture in Africa and the lives of farmers and farming communities”, said Ms Rhoda Peace.

Her sentiments were echoed by Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, NPCA’s Chief Executive Officer who underscored the need to improve the continent’s food security.

“If we are going to make poverty history in Africa, we have to improve food security, nutrition and incomes in Africa’s largely agrarian economies”, said Dr Mayaki. “These are the interlinked goals of CAADP through which African governments are committed to an annual increase in agricultural productivity of 6 per cent by investing at least 10 per cent of national budgets in agriculture.”

The meeting-a partnership between the African Union institutions, member states and development partners-has brought together government ministers, representatives from the African Union Commission, the NEPAD agency, farmers’ organizations, regional economic communities and development partners.

The forum will review progress and country-level experiences in implementation since the previous meeting in April 2010.

Endorsed by the African Union and NEPAD in 2003, CAADP is an Africa-owned and led initiative and framework to rationalize and revitalize African agriculture for economic growth and lasting poverty reduction results. The CAADP Platform Partnership meeting has evolved into a key instrument for peer interaction and sharing among the core institutions and partners involved in CAADP implementation.

“CAADP’s agenda reflects a fundamental shift in the way Africa’s leadership looks at agriculture and its potential contribution to ending poverty and hunger. The African Union has placed agriculture, food and nutrition security high on the agenda and the development partners have pledged to step up their financial and technical support”, added Ms Rhoda Peace.

Due to the fast development of the CAADP Agenda continent- wide, the GIZ programme seeks a junior expert support to help in the implementation of CAADP agenda.Working within the Terms and operational arrangements of the NEPAD Agency Agriculture Unit and mainly the CAADP Implementation Support Team, the junior expert will support the implementation of the joint NPCA-German support work.

Duration
The junior expert will be engaged initially for the duration of the Project support. Start date mid-March 2011 - December 2011.

Closing date
Tuesday 01 March 2011.

Application letters and CV should be sent to the GIZ HR Department, Ms Angela Mazibuko: angela.mazibuko@giz.de

Click here for more information.

Dear Colleagues,

CAADP is Africa’s vehicle to unlock the potential for growth and poverty reduction through agriculture. At the last CAADP Partnership Platform we resolved to strengthen the participation of Non State Actors in agriculture through this transformation process. Whether farmers organisations, private sector organisations, civil society groups or the media; everyone has a vital role to play.

Since the Partnership Platform, our Non State Actor working group has made significant progress. We are pleased to announce three related initiatives that will enable Non State Actors to better harness the “vehicle” of CAADP, and thereby improve their contribution to agricultural development across Africa…

1. Guidelines for Non State Actor Participation in CAADP processes
The working group has completed a set of guidelines that propose how Non State Actors can contribute fully to the planning and implementation of agricultural policy, using the CAADP structures. They are written as a toolkit for all CAADP partners - Non State Actors themselves, Government bodies, and Development Partners.
 We strongly encourage you to read the guidelines, use them to inspire dialogue within your constituency, and then, whatever your context, commit to an action plan to enhance your contribution to your national agricultural agenda.

You can download the guidelines here in French and in English.
 
 In support of the guidelines, the working group also developed a set of recommended interventions that should promote their implementation (download here in French and in English).

2. Non State Actor Co-ordination Task Team
We have established an informal platform through which regional or continental Non State Actors can co-ordinate their support for the CAADP agenda, especially through actively supporting the participation of Non State Actors at the country-level. This evolution of the working group is open to anyone willing to contribute.

For the task team’s Terms of Reference click here.
 
Initially the task team is focused on communicating the Guidelines to the country-level.

Anyone wishing to join the task team, or simply stay informed, can sign up to the mailing list here: http://eepurl.com/cuVhz . Please share this link more widely.

We are particularly grateful to the following four champions who have volunteered to take on key roles with the task team.

• Chief Alangeh Romanus Che, PROPAC
 ~ Chair
• Lucy Muchoki, PANAAC ~
Vice Chair
• Fungayi Simbi, FANRPAN ~ Secretariat support for East and Southern Africa
• Buba Khan, Action Aid (West Africa) ~ Secretariat support for West Africa

3. A workshop in your country or region?
The task team wants to pilot the guidelines in a few CAADP countries by running one-day tailored workshops. Key national stakeholders will come together to review the guidelines, consider their own context, and develop initiatives that will unlock the potential contribution of Non State Actors to the national agricultural agenda and its CAADP process in that country.
 
If you believe such a workshop would be welcomed in your country, then please email Fungayi Simbi to explore whether this is feasible within resource constraints.

Thank you for all your hard work in support of CAADP.

Yours sincerely

Martin Bwalya, NEPAD Agency ~ Head of CAADP

Jan 31, 2011 by sgustafson

With all the news of floods in Australia decimating the country’s wheat crop and adverse weather in the US cutting corn and soybean harvests, commodities prices across the globe are again seeing drastic increases, raising fears that we may be witnessing a return of widespread food insecurity and subsequent political and economic turmoil. Moreover, the FAO’s recent statement that global food prices reached a record high in December 2010 has sparked the memory of the crisis in 2007-08 and turned global attention back to the issue of food security.

But the current situation is not the same as it was in 2007-08, the key reasons being: (a) there is still sufficient production and stocks of wheat, (b) oil prices are still not at the levels of 2008, (c) rice production is doing well and there are sufficient rice reserves, and (d) countries are not implementing policies that could put more pressure on prices - such as export bans in key exporting countries or a reduction of import tariffs in key importing countries.

True, the signs look worrying for wheat and corn. Russia’s ban on wheat exports will continue in 2011, and Australian floods will affect the quality of the country’s wheat crop and downgrade the grain to animal feed (Australia exports around 11% of the world’s wheat, a similar share to what Russia used to export); however, the reduction of export taxes in Argentina could partially compensate for this. Overall, wheat production in 2011 will depend on the weather in the coming months. The bulk of the coarse grains and paddy crops are not due to be planted for several months, but we should expect some volatility. In the case of corn, the situation is more complex, given the increase in demand for biofuels (based in large part on the new biofuels mandates in the US) and the potential reduction of exports from Argentina (the second largest exporter of corn). This is complicated by the fact that the global corn market was already extremely tight. There is also significant pressure from the fact that commodities are measured in US dollars; since 2008, the FED has printed significant amounts of USD for expansionary policies that affect the exchange rate and therefore can partly explain the increase in prices.

However, the biggest things to fear, and guard against, are political and market overreaction and extreme price volatility, such as were observed during the first weeks of August and December 2010. Such moves evoke 2007-2008, when more than a dozen major food producers halted or restricted exports. This was meant to protect domestic markets as staple prices soared and global grain stocks fell to record lows, but it put even more pressure on commodity prices, beggaring and starving poor consumers in other countries. Global market stability was sacrificed at the altar of domestic politics.

We now know more than we did in 2007-08 in terms of how and to what extent prices are transmitted from global to domestic markets. We expect positive transmission effects in the case of wheat in Latin American and Asian countries, although the key commodity for Asia will be rice. In Latin America, in the case of bread, the average transmission elasticity is about 0.20, which means that a 1 percentage point increase in the growth rate of the international price of wheat translates into a permanent increase of 0.20 percentage points in the growth rate of the domestic price of bread. In the case of wheat in Asia, the biggest transmission effect is found in Bangladesh (0.74), followed by Pakistan (0.41), and Vietnam (0.11). Watch IFPRI Research Fellow Miguel Robles discuss the price situation in Latin America and Asia.

In Africa, on the other hand, staple food prices have different levels of transmission. Major price transmission in Africa occurs with rice prices, which are more closely linked than maize prices to world markets. This is good news, given that rice prices are not currently in surge. We do not expect significant transmission for maize, or major transmission for wheat in Northern Africa. Watch Senior Research Fellow Nicholas Minot discuss the price situation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

We also now have tools in place to measure and analyze the causes and effects of changes in food prices, accessible through the Food Security Portal, facilitated by IFPRI. Commodities graphs track global prices dating back to 1998 and provide daily returns on futures prices. Annotated commodity price timelines provide a simple visual explanation of past and present behavior of four main commodity markets (wheat, maize, rice, and soybeans), combining time series of commodity prices with other related information such as real-time news stories and synopses of major events related to global commodity price fluctuations. A Terms-of-Trade Effect tool provides a quick and easy way to assess the country-level impact of a change in world commodity prices, while a Short-Run Impact of Releasing Food Stocks simulator allows users to model the impact of a release of stocks of a particular commodity. A welfare simulator provides a simple modeling tool to assess the effects of changing prices and crop production on local communities’ welfare.

Such tools are essential in helping policymakers understand how to mitigate the risk of another food crisis and how knee-jerk reactions can act to make such a crisis worse. If governments and markets start taking things in stride, as appears to be the case, this should be good news for consumers-especially for poor consumers in developing countries who spend much or most of their income on food. The last thing poor populations need now is a rash of speculation or the ad hoc protectionism that has been both a cause and effect of past price crises.

Source: http://www.foodsecurityportal.org

Strengthening Fisheries Management in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP Fish 11)

The ACPFish 11 Coordination Unit in Brussels (through the RFUfor Eastern Africa) invites eligible individual consultants, companies, NGOs and other eligible entities to express an interest in providing services to the Programme in the areas outlined attached document below. If you require more information on the type of assignments to be implemented, please visit our website at www.acpfish2-eu.org and examine the Regional Action Plans (RAPs).

Contact: Regional Manager, Regional Facilitation Unit for Eastern Africa (RFU-EA),

Flat 2, Jocasa House Plot 14

Nakasero Road,

Kampala,

Uganda

Email: K.Mindjimba@acpfish2-eu.org / rfu.uganda@acpfis2-eu.org

Brochure PDF

Dear Readers

This is just a brief note to reassure you that progress is being made on Non State Actor participation in CAADP.

The “Guidelines” are almost drafted and translation work has begun. These should be available by the end of January.

The Non State Actor working group is also considering its ongoing role in promoting the guidelines, and providing an ongoing platform through which Non State Actors can co-ordinate their support for CAADP at the continental level. Again, clarity should be achieved by the end of the month and information will then be circulated on how interested parties such as yourself could engage.

We are also starting to plan visits to CAADP country teams through which to discuss the quality of Non State Actor participation, develop a strategy for improving this, and, overall, to ensure that the CAADP agenda fulfils its potential by building a coalition for agricultural transformation that is as strong as possible. Please get in touch if you think your country or regional team would welcome such support.

Finally we can celebrate the appointment of the NSA working group’s Chair, Chief Alangeh Romanus Che of PROPAC, and our Vice Chair, Lucy Muchoki of PANAAC.

Keep up the good work wherever you are!
Yours sincerely
Ian Randall
Consultant supporting the CAADP NSA Working Group
ian@wasafiriconsulting.com
————————————
This mailing list
This mailing list is for people interested in work underway to boost participation of Non State Actors in the CAADP process. For more background please click here to download a concept note.

We have established this ongoing mailing list to update you on our progress, seek your input and invite you to key events. We hope that as the mailing list grows it will provide an inventory of the key Non State Actors with an interest in CAADP.

Please forward this email to other colleagues and organisations who you think have an interest in the participation of Non-State Actors in CAADP. They can subscribe to the list themselves by clicking here. Feel free to promote the list by sharing the following link on websites or in communications: http://eepurl.com/02gQ

I have to share this with you all as it is deals with an area – photos – that I often feels gets ignored in our communications work. To start with, it goes without saying that photos can go a long way in enticing readers into a story. In fact, in many instances the photo is the story. And this is particularly evident in the world of development communications where photos have often been used as the single entry point into a campaign on stopping hunger, improving the environment, global health and so on.

Whilst many of us in the field of communications are clearly aware of the relevance and value of good photos it must also be said that some of us (including yours truly) still struggle to gain acess to good quality photos and/or to even take good photos. In those cases where we have the photos we struggle in terms of storage and file sharing.

Similar to many other organisations we (the Comms Team) here at the NEPAD Agency have in the past year moved towards using flickr (free online photo site) as a resource for addressing some of the issues that we are struggling with. As I write, most of our good photos – those that we rely on consistently for our publications – can be accessed by all the Team members at any given time. This has not only improved our overall access to our photos - it has also enabled us to know exactly where each photo is and also to plan in terms of which areas of our work (agriculture, infrastructure etc) might require more relevant photos.

The challenge with all this is that sometimes not everyone on the Team is at the same level in terms of getting to grips with the full potential of Flickr. It is in this regard that I am pleased to see that our friends at Scriptoria www.scriptoria.co.uk recently produced a simple ‘How To’ users guide to Flickr that will quickly tell you and your colleagues how to use Flickr to store and distribute your best photos - making them available whenever you need them.

To download this free guide to using Flickr, click here. A big thanks to Dr. Jim Weale and his staff at Scriptoria for sharing and for making this freely available.

On another note – you can access our general photo gallery by clicking here.

Best wishes,

Andrew Kanyegirire.

Progress
Over the last month, we have made considerable progress on defining how to boost the participation of Non-State Actors in the CAADP process:

• Feedback on the options paper was received from a broad range of stakeholders
• A presentation and consultation workshop at the Africa Forum in Burkina Faso generated much valuable input and raised awareness
• An action-planning workshop in Johannesburg benefited from active participation by representatives from all main constituencies and from across all regions of Africa.
• The workshop formulated draft content for a set of Guideline Standards on NSA participation in CAADP; and agreed a set of Recommended Interventions to boost participation.
• Work on the CAADP Capacity Development Strategy has integrated the needs of NSA

Feedback on the options paper
In general the options paper was very well-received, and feedback simply added detail and called for practical action to implement the recommendations.

Some of the more substantive feedback included:

• Mainstream gender inclusion
• Ensure country teams include representatives with a comprehensive concern for all four pillars of CAADP - especially with regard to nutrition and food security.
• Increase clarity on how to ensure NSA representatives on the country team are selected by their constituency.
• Increase communication efforts, including leveraging the media.
• Increase clarity on how to structure NSA participation at the regional level.
• Engage parliamentarians via their technical committees.

The draft guideline standards and recommended interventions
The main outputs of the action planning workshop was draft content for:

1. Guideline Standards for NSA participation in the CAADP process
2. A set of recommended interventions to boost participation and close the gap between reality and aspiration

Click here to read a summary presentation of the meeting including the draft content. These two documents will be written up and translated by the end of January 2011. All the feedback on the option paper was integrated into these outputs.

The Guideline Standards should provide a clear benchmark on quality participation that country teams and other stakeholders can use to reflect on how effective NSA participation is structured in their context. The primary recommended intervention is to undertake a “road-show” in which the guidelines are presented to country teams (plus some additional key Non-State Actors in the country), and then a facilitated dialogue generates a targeted plan of action for improving the quality of participation in that specific context.

Read the summary presentation for much more detail on the guidelines and recommendations.
Yours sincerely
Ian Randall
Consultant supporting the CAADP NSA Working Group
ian@wasafiriconsulting.com

The latest edition of New Agriculturist (2010-5) is now online at www.new-ag.info. With forthcoming summits on the Millennium Development Goals and climate change, the dual challenges of feeding the world and protecting the environment must remain foremost in decision-makers’ minds. Greater investment in agricultural science and its communication is required to achieve global food security with less water, less land, higher energy costs and global warming. In this issue, demonstrating the impact of agricultural development is also a key theme.