Researchers, AU/NEPAD and partners join hands with Sierra Leone to sign CAADP Compact
Farmers also found time to exhbit their produce during the CAADP roundtables in Sierra Leone
FreeTown, 22nd September 2009 — The Government of Sierra Leone has today signed the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Compact, during the country’s roundtable meeting.
“This is an important historical moment not only for Sierra Leone, but for Africa as a whole. We regard CAADP as being pivotal to our poverty and hunger eradication efforts” said Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, the President of Sierra Leone at the signing of Sierra Leone’s CAADP Compact.
“Agriculture constitutes the backbone of our economy it contributes 45% of our Gross Domestic Product and close to two thirds of our people rely on it for their livelihoods. Therefore, any measures used to improve agriculture are taken seriously by this Government” he added.
The CAADP roundtables, which ran from the 17th to the 18th of September 2009, were hosted by the Government of Sierra Leone, the African Union (the AU), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Economic Commission for West African States (ECOWAS).
The roundtables are aimed at generating consensus among key stakeholders on Sierra Leone’s agricultural development agenda, forging the necessary partnerships to implement it, and securing commitments and resources from partners to make the necessary investments.
According to Dr. Joseph Sam Sesay, Sierra Leone’s Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, the CAADP Compact is set on making agriculture the engine for socio-economic growth and development through commercialisation and the promotion of the private sector, including farmers and farmer-based organizations.
Speaking on behalf of the AU-NEPAD, Prof. Richard Mkandawire, an adviser for Agriculture / CAADP at the NEPAD Secretariat recognised the role that has been played by the leadership and people of Sierra Leone in championing the CAADP Agenda.
“We are also pleased to hear that Sierra Leone’s Minister of Finance and Planning is planning to increase the national budget allocation to agriculture in the coming financial year to 9.9%” said Prof. Mkandawire.
The CAADP Compact in Sierra Leone supports a comprehensive agriculture and rural development strategy consistent with the National Sustainable Agriculture Development Plan (NSADP) which emanates from the Agenda for Change – Sierra Leone’s second generation Poverty Reduction Strategy. The Compact will assist in the design and implementation of agriculture investment programmes.
The Compact targets key sub-sectors such as land and water management, rural-urban infrastructure, commercialisation, trade and marketing, resources management and increased agricultural productivity.
Sierra Leone becomes the fifth country to sign the CAADP Compact after Rwanda, Burundi, Togo and Ethiopia.
NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program is based on two major principles: the pursuit of a six percent average annual growth rate at the national level in the agricultural sector, and the allocation of ten percent of national budgets to agriculture. The aim of CAADP, which is spearheaded by 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).
Key signatories to the Compact included Sierra Leone’s Minister of Agriculture, Foresty and Food Security Dr. Joseph Sam Sesay, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Dr. Samura Kamara, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Haja Hafsatu Kabbah, Salifou Qusseini on behalf of ECOWAS and Prof. Richard Mkandawire of AU/NEPAD. Other Signatories were the World Bank’s Engelbert Gudmusson representing development partners, Mr. Charles Mambu representing civil society and Mr. Mohamed Kella on behalf of the private sector.
