A briefing session chaired by the Algerian Minister of Environment, Town Planning and Tourism, Hon. Cherif Rahmani (centre) was organized on 12 December 2009 at the Bella Center, Copenhagen, Denmark to update African Ministers on the Status of negotiations at COP15. The session was addressed among others by H.E. Mrs. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, the Commissioner of Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union Commission (left) and the South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs and President of AMCEN, Hon. Buyelwa Sonjica (right). The attendance of the Chair for the G77+China Group of negotiators at this session marked geo-political solidarity with Africa and highlighted the strategic alliances being forged at COP15 and beyond. Source: African Union.

Statement of Outcomes from Agriculture and Rural Development Day.

12 December 2009, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

A group of more than 300 policymakers, farmers and scientists meeting in Copenhagen today urged on negotiators at the United Nations Climate Change Conference to recognize agriculture’s vital role in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The group strongly endorsed the proposed target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to avoid a temperature increase of more than 2 degrees C. They stressed that reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture is essential for achieving the target.

Farmers and researchers are already finding climate change solutions. On that basis, the agricultural community intends to play a pro-active role in actions aimed at reducing emissions, while increasing the productive capacity of agriculture through the development of sustainable practices.

Agriculture faces the challenge of nearly doubling food production in order to meet the food needs of a population expected to reach 9 billion by mid-century but without increasing the sector’s emissions. Across most of the tropics, agriculture will continue to face the enormous challenge of adapting to harsh and unpredictable growing conditions.

To meet the climate challenge, substantial additional financing and investment will be needed across the entire rural value chain. New investments must be handled transparently to ensure that adaptation and mitigation are not undermined by reduced support for global food security and rural development. In addition, new investment must be accessible to all stakeholders, including researchers and members of civil society, especially farmers and their associations.

Specifically, the group urged climate negotiators to agree on the early establishment of an agricultural work program under the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA): Agriculture and Development Day was organized by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD), the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, the International Federation of Agriculture Producers, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Global Forum for Agricultural Research, the Earth System Science Partnership.

This statement first appeared on our partner site http://www.donorplatform.org/  

For more on what actual farmers are pushing for in Copenhagen go to the blogs section of the CAADP website www.caadp.net/blog/  

KIGALI, RWANDA (7 December 2009) – Africa has identified the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) as the avenue for addressing the challenges of food security, but both the donors and African governments are yet to fulfill their commitments to CAADP, said Rwandan President Paul Kagame earlier on today at the start of a two day high-level meeting on CAADP.

In 2003, African leaders signed up to CAADP through which they agreed to allocate ten percent of their national budgets to agriculture and to pursue six percent average annual growth rate at the national level in the agricultural sector.

“Neither Africa nor the development partners have achieved the targets that were set up in 2003,” said Kagame. “There are substantial gaps between pledges and targets. We simply have no option, but to succeed with the CAADP and we all need to re-commit to what is required of us. We need to act on how each country can invest in CAADP and on how partners can support these investments.”

The President was speaking at the start of the Rwanda Post-CAADP Compact High Level Stakeholder Meeting that is focused on reviewing the achievements registered so far by Rwanda in terms of the CAADP agenda and also on how to kick-start investments into the country’s agricultural sector through the Rwanda Agriculture Sector Plan (PSTA 2) and the related Investment Plan.

The meeting brought together various policymakers, donors and representatives from the African Union (AU), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and other international organizations.

As a programme of the African Union, NEPAD works closely with African governments to implement CAADP, a framework to accelerate economic growth and boost food security through greater investments in agriculture.

“As you all know the hunger situation in Africa is worrying. The World Hunger Report for 2009 indicates that most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are food stressed,” said Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, the Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, at the African Union Commission. “However, excellent outcomes are being witnessed in some countries such as Rwanda, Malawi and recently Sierra Leone which have made significant progress in meeting the CAADP targets”.

According to a review of the Rwanda Investment Plan, Rwanda has increased public spending on agriculture and farmers are also responding positively through increased production and productivity. Still, the country is faced with a close to US $300 million financing gap that needs to be addressed if the country’s is to maintain the current successes.

Gayle Smith, the Special Advisor to President Barack Obama of the United States reiterated the US Government’s commitment to CAADP.

“We will succeed if we match word with deed,” she advised. She went on to highlight that this success will have to go hand-in-hand with the principles of mutual accountability, engagement, transparency and real tangible commitments to African agriculture.

Speaking on behalf of the development partners, Nick Dyer the Director of Policy at the UK’s Department for International Development also called upon the donors to step-up to the challenge of taking real action in terms of supporting agriculture in Africa.

Hartwig Schafer, the Director of Strategy and Operations and Sustainable Development at the World Bank, reiterated the Bank’s support to Agriculture in Africa through short term relief and medium term investments all of which fits in well with September Pittsburgh meeting through which the G20 leaders called upon the World Bank to increase agricultural assistance to low-income countries.

The Bank is also supporting CAADP through the recently established US $50 million Multi-Donor Trust Fund which is being used to build the capacity of African institutions to lead and implement the CAADP agenda.      

About NEPAD-CAADP

The African Union through its programme of the ‘The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) works to raise the amount and quality of food that Africa produces, in order to make families more food-secure and exports more profitable. To do this, NEPAD brings together all the organisations involved in Africa’s agriculture – and helps them voice their needs and co-ordinate their work. The framework guiding this work is CAADP, developed and led by African nations. Established as part of NEPAD, CAADP was endorsed by the African Union Assembly in July 2003.

NEPAD works closely with the African Union Commission (AUC), regional economic communities, national governments, research institutions, farmers’ associations to make sure that the pivotal role of agriculture in development is prioritised. In addition, many global development partners who were looking for a champion for agricultural development have rallied around CAADP. For more information go to: www.nepad-caadp.net  or email andrewk@nepad.org

Kigali, 4 December 2009 — Nearly 300 agricultural experts, policymakers, donors and representatives from the African Union (AU), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and other international organizations will convene here from December 7-8 for a high-level stakeholders meeting on investments into Rwanda’s agricultural sector through NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP).

           The aim of CAADP, which is spearheaded by the AU-NEPAD and African governments, is to accelerate agricultural growth and thereby eliminate poverty, which has been steadily increasing throughout the continent over the past two decades.

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 program is the centerpiece of efforts by African countries to achieve growth and poverty reduction in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“This post-CAADP Compact engagement on Rwanda and its agricultural sector is extremely important especially in terms of making sure that Rwanda stays on course with regard to achieving the MDG of cutting poverty in half,” said Prof. Richard Mkandawire the Adviser for Agriculture and Head of CAADP at the NEPAD Secretariat. “Agriculture accounts for over a third of Africa’s gross domestic product and almost 60 percent of its export income. We especially need to improve the role of smallholder African farmers in the region’s economies if we are to alleviate poverty and hunger on the continent.”

Rwanda was the first country in Africa to sign the CAADP Compact in March 2007. The purpose of this post-CAADP Compact meeting is to:

·         review the achievements registered so far by Rwanda in terms of accelerating the CAADP agenda at the national level;

·         analyse and share lessons learned from some of the challenges faced by Rwanda and other African countries in pursuing the CAADP agenda;

·         identify opportunities for investment financing from donors, multilateral organizations, the private sector, civil society organizations, farmers and regional economic communities towards Rwanda’s agricultural priorities;

·         look at the ways in which Rwanda’s Agriculture Investment Plan and even the Vision 2020 can act as entry points for support towards agricultural-led development.

H.E. President Paul Kagame is expected to open the meeting.

NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program is based on two major principles: the pursuit of a 6 percent average annual growth rate at the national level in the agricultural sector, and the allocation of 10 percent of national budgets to agriculture. (more…)

By Lucas Barasa*

Nairobi, 2 December 2009 - A major conference to help enhance food security in Africa and share lessons on best practices entered its third day in Nairobi Wednesday.

The Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) head Richard Mkandawire who spoke on behalf of the African Union Commission and New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) said the forum is a platform for sharing experiences and lessons from each other’s best practices in agriculture.

The lessons and ideas are to be used as an input into country-driven development of the agricultural and rural sector, he said.

The five day forum is under the theme The Bottom of the Pyramid: Agricultural Development for the Vulnerable.

“In spite of the positive socio-economic and political gains that have been recorded in the past 10 years, Africa remains a troubled continent. This is a continent where famine and diseases are widespread. A continent where 200 million people are undernourished and 33 million children are malnourished and go to sleep hungry every night,” Mr Mkandawire said.

He warned that in absence of some real tangible emergency and long term measures-food prices are set to remain high for most African countries over the next couple of years.

The AU and NEPAD have been advocating for African agricultural capacity building, so that African countries can better develop their agricultural capacities.

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

“In this light, may I state that the African Union and NEPAD will play a lead role in ensuring that the knowledge generation centres, through the Regional Economic Communities, work very closely with the countries in enhancing and strengthening the national round table processes and we shall endeavour to mobilise the relevant resources to support this process,” Mr Mkandawire said. (more…)