By Andrew Kanyegirire

(l-r) Dr. Ibrahim A Mayaki – the NEPAD CEO, Mrs Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner at DREA and Prof. Richard Mkandawire, NEPAD Agriculture Advisor.

Addis Ababa, 26 April 2009 – “Your coming together comes as a boost to the efforts of various African stakeholders and development partners who have been working together to address the challenges of high food prices, the fuel crisis, climate change and the financial crisis” said African Union (AU) Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Mrs Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, African Union (AU) Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture.    

Commissioner Tumusiime was speaking at the AU Ministers of Agriculture, Livestock and Land meeting which took place last week at the Headquarters of the AU in Addis Ababa. The meeting which ran from 23 to 25 April 2009 was aimed at addressing the challenges posed by climate change, agricultural trade, investment financing in agriculture and the participation of the rural poor in development.

“Your deliberations are also taking place half a decade since the adoption of the AU Summit of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) in 2003. This is an opportune time for us all to recommit ourselves to this initiative” she added.

CAADP - is an Africa-led and Africa-owned AU-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) initiative and framework to rationalise and revitalise African agriculture for economic growth and lasting poverty reduction.

In his remarks to the Ministers, Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, the Chief Executive Officer of NEPAD reminded participants that issues to do with agriculture should go beyond the focus on food security.  

 “In a continental context of increasing populations, rural urban migration, low levels of industrialisation and rising numbers of young men and women being unemployed, it is imperative that we focus on agriculture as a key sector that can offer employment to our youth”, said Dr. Mayaki.

Participants at the meeting also included UN Agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), IFAD and the UN - High Level Task Force for Global Food Security.

The outcomes of the meeting will be fed into the 13^th Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African which is scheduled for June-July 2009 and whose theme is Increasing Investment in Agriculture for Economic Growth and Food Security.

The continued food shortages

The ongoing food shortages in countries such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Mozambique are a constant reminder that the food crisis is far from over.

Although global food prices have fallen in recent months, they are still relatively high, very volatile and expected to rise in the future. This is further complicated by the ‘triple crunch’ of the economic crisis, climate change, and energy and water scarcity.

Furthermore, Africa is still importing cereals while the continent has so much available arable land.

 Responses and investments to tackle food security

It is in this regard that Ministers in attendance at the meeting underscored the view that investment in the lands and agricultural sectors has to be combined to be truly effective and to bring about economic growth.

Under the auspices of the AU-NEPAD, African countries have in the past two years highlighted a series of short to long-term measures for boosting food security in the context of the high food prices.

 As part of the first key stage of the response to the high food prices, over 20 African countries have taken on some of the short, medium and long-term measures aimed at addressing soaring food prices.

Of key importance in the long term is the creation and implementation of policies to respond to the high food prices and the setting-up of budget adjustments that can help countries to adjust their budgets and investments in line with the high food prices.

In addition, in order to address the high food prices crisis, institutions such as the African Development Bank approved more than $700 million in 2008-2009. For long term measures the ADB plans to increase water storage capacity, to develop irrigation and to reduce post-harvest losses.

In relation to this, Mrs Sheila Sisulu, Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme called upon the Ministers to take on a collective approach to issues of investing in agriculture.

“So yes, we must invest in agriculture, with a strong focus on small holder farmers who are mainly women. But without focusing also on access to food and addressing immediate hunger and nutrition needs, we will never solve the hunger plague,” she added.

For more information contact:

Dr. Andrew Kanyegirire

CAADP Communications Mgr

Minister for Trade and Development Gareth Thomas’s question to these market vendors in Maputo [last week] is especially apposite….how much does fish really cost -or indeed contribute-  to African economies such as Mozambique’s?

This question has also been focusing minds in DFID and Defra as part of a long-term international policy support programme on more effective fisheries and, in particular, on  tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Avid readers of fisheries Insights passim will be aware that IUU fishing currently costs Africa $1 billion per year (see BBC News Closing the Net on Illegal Fishing). Moreover, the effects of weak governance and management of fisheries could mean another $2-3 billion per year in lost rents is added to the bill, an amount foregone that could contribute very substantially to poverty reduction and growth.

The reality of the problem is that the existing benefits of fisheries to African economies (Box below) are being eroded. Fisheries are already being exploited far beyond biologically sustainable limits. Africa is particularly vulnerable because weak fisheries management offers an open door to free riders to mine these renewable natural resources –potentially some of the most productive and valuable in the world–  into economic extinction.

So what are we doing about this?

During his brief visit, Gareth Thomas announced the UK Government’s support for the Partnership for African Fisheries (PAF) a new  DFID-funded programme being run through New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and  the African Union Commission.

In announcing the programme, Minister Thomas said:

“Mozambique enjoys vast resources of fish and seafood off its coastline which bring significant economic benefits to the country. [Box below]. But without proper  management including monitoring control and surveillance systems,  continued abuse of this resource through illegal fishing  will ensure that these benefits are in danger of being  lost.”

“The UK’s £7 million African Partnership Programme will ensure that countries work together to tackle this problem; sharing their expertise and enabling fishermen to get their produce to markets more easily so that they can make a living.”

The new partnership will help NEPAD in further developing a politically-led African regional strategy that will result in more effective fisheries.

PAF will stimulate debate and knowledge exchange between African and international partners in three key policy areas: good governance, illegal fishing, and trade and access to markets. Building on best practice from Africa and elsewhere, it will facilitate a move towards policies that support more economically productive and sustainable fisheries, enabling these to contribute to growth and poverty reduction. PAF will continue the fight the UK has been leading against IUU fishing.

DFID’s funding represents seed capital for PAF. Other donors and partners already involved include the World Bank, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and Pew Charitable Trust.

PAF stems from policy work undertaken in southern Africa during 2007/8, also funded by DFID, to tackle illegal fishing. The culmination of this work was a Southern African Development Community (SADC) Declaration on illegal fishing signed by eight African Fisheries Ministers in Windhoek in July this year (www.stopillegalfishing.com).

Immediate outcomes of the Windhoek meeting relevant to Mozambique included:

·         The seizure by Mozambican authorities of the notorious pirate vessel Antillas Reefer  in Mozambican waters (July 2008).

·         Joint sea patrols between South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania leading to arrests of IUU vessels in both Mozambique and Tanzania in March 2009.

Mozambique will be a leading member of PAF’s Ministerial Task Force for African Fisheries whose first meeting will take place in The Gambia in August this year. 

Mozambique will also host the International Working Group on Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Training – the first time this high-profile event has been held in Africa.

Learn more about this at www.africanfisheries.org and www.stopillegalfishing.com  

For more information, please contact Tim Bostock, Sharon Harvey or David Howlett

At the AU-NEPAD Secretariat please contact Dr. Sloans Chimatiro, Senior Fisheries Advisor on Email sloansc@nepad.org 

Author: Tim Bostock

Joint Press Release

For immediate release

Pretoria, 26th March 2009, The fourth Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme Partnership Platform (CAADP PP) opened today in Pretoria, South Africa.

The meeting which runs from March 26-27 2009 is aimed at reviewing and discussing CAADP implementation and progress on the African continent.

The CAADP PP has evolved into a key instrument for peer interaction and sharing among the core institutions and partners’ involvement in CAADP
implementation.

The CAADP PP provides for collective multi-partner peer review of the CAADP implementation process including highlighting emerging issues and lessons.

At the meeting official opening remarks where made by Hon. Lulama Xingwana, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs, South Africa; Her Excellency Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, the AUC Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, His Excellency Dr. Joseph Sam Sesay, the Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, Sierra Leone and Dr. Karen Brooks, of the World Bank on behalf of the development partners.

Officially opening the meeting, South African Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs, Hon. Lulama Xingwana urged the meeting to build on the African Union’s AU’s plans to promote and advocate for key Africa-wide policies including environment, land tenure, water and fertilizer usage as the framework for implementation of CAADP.

In addition, she called for enhanced institutional capacity of NEPAD, RECs and national governments for improved co-ordination and implementation.

“We need to enhance Africa’s capacity to build strong and effective partnership with Global Economic Fund (GEF) and others for resource mobilization,” Hon. Xingwana said.

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security in Sierra Leone, Dr. Joseph Sam Sesay, highlighted the importance of political will at ministerial and presidential levels in moving the CAADP agenda.

“We are undertaking the CAADP process with commitment, determination and unprecedented speed,” he said.

Her Excellency Tumusiime Rhodah Peace, AUC Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture highlighted` several issues to be addressed and implemented, such as advancing a clear and concrete strategy, on how to advance CAADP implementation at country level.

In addition, she highlighted the importance of endorsing the governance arrangements for the CAADP Multi-donor Trust Fund.

Representing the development partners, Kareen Brooks of the World Bank, said it was pertinent that CAADP redefines itself as a process, largely at the national level, of good agricultural programming, downplaying key events, and emphasizing the substantive process, engaging more actively with the private sector and civil society, particularly smallholder farmers and strengthening the role of the lead pillar institutions in the national processes.

She also called on institutions running the CAADP agenda to identify trans-boundary investments, activate the peer review mechanism, advocate for agriculture’s importance as a constructive response to the financial crisis and more significantly, develop a position on trading in soil carbon.

The meeting recognised the progress made by the regional economic communities in advancing the CAADP Agenda.

Key participants at the meeting included:
- Civil Society Organisations
- Development partners
- CAADP Pillar lead institutions
- Regional economic communities (RECs); COMESA, ECOWAS, SDA
- Private sector representatives
- AUC Commission
- NEPAD Secretariat
- UN Agencies
- IFPRI
and other stakeholders.

For more information contact:

Sihem Kefi, Information Officer, African Union Commission
Email: didon_journaliste@yahoo.fr

Carol Jilombo, CAADP Communications Manager, COMESA
cjilombo@comesa.int

Dr. Andrew Kanyegirire, CAADP Communications Manager, NEPAD
andrewk@nepad.org