Prof. Richard Mkandawire, Head of NEPAD Agriculture/CAADP

An award for real improvements in poverty reduction in the face of a global recession

The global financial meltdown and the ensuing recession has led some analysts to predict that Africa is going to lose out in terms of the external focus, partnerships and assistance that have in recent years been dedicated to its development agenda.

 
However, it is also evident that African-based initiatives such as NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) are standing out as the most prudent avenues for genuine poverty reduction efforts in Africa.

It is in this regard that Professor Richard Mkandawire, Head of the NEPAD Agriculture/CAADP won this year’s Drivers of Change Individual Award. (more…)

Prof. Richard Mkandawire, Head of NEPAD, with Ahmed Sayed Ahmed, of the Cairo newspaper, Al Ahram

Helping to make the media aware

A media sensitisation workshop on one of the most topical issues of the past year — the question of African agriculture — was organised by the NEPAD Secretariat in Midrand, South Africa, on 6-7 November 2008. It focused on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

Endorsed by the African Union (AU) and NEPAD in 2003, CAADP is an Africa-led and Africa-owned initiative and framework to rationalise and revitalise African agriculture for economic growth and lasting poverty reduction.

The drivers behind the workshop

In some ways, the workshop grew out of the realisation that although the past few years have been characterised by an immense interest in high fuel prices, high food prices and the welfare of the agricultural sector, the African public, especially in the rural areas, are rarely engaged in key messages concerning agriculture. (more…)

The rapid rise in food prices recently led to food riots with hungry protesters in countries such as Cameroon, Mauritania and Senegal calling for cheaper food.

The African Union (AU), Regional Economic Communities (RECs), development partners and NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) have now kick-started initiatives aimed at staving off the high food prices.

In Africa, the prices of basic foodstuffs such as bread, rice, meat and milk have  (more…)

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a global issue with many harmful environmental, economic and social impacts.

The international community, as well as the NEPAD action plan for the development of African fisheries and aquaculture, has increasingly recognized the need for strengthened fisheries governance at national and regional levels as one of the main requirements if IUU fishing is to stop.

In response to this need, and as a follow-on action from the International High Seas Task Force, the UK Government has committed to support an African policy process to tackle IUU fishing. (more…)

On the second day of the G8 summit, the leaders agreed to continue delivery of a range of initiatives aimed at boosting food security.

In a press statement, they said: “We have taken additional steps to assist those suffering from food insecurity or hunger, and today renew our commitment to address this multifaceted and structural crisis”.

The G8 committed themselves to reversing the overall decline in aid and investment in the agricultural sector, and to achieving “significant increases in support of developing country initiatives, including (more…)