Swaziland to sign CAADP Compact
Lusaka, 3rd March 2010 - Key stakeholders in the African agricultural development agenda, including agricultural experts, policymakers, development partners, farmers organizations and the private sector, will convene at Ezulwini, Swaziland from the 3rd to the 4th March 2010 for a roundtable meeting on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP).
The roundtable will culminate into the signing of the CAADP Compact by the Swaziland Government. Key signatories will also include the African Union (AU) and NEPAD.
The signing of the CAADP Compact is in response to a mandate by the African Heads of State and Government at Maputo in 2003, encouraging Member States to increase their annual budget allocation to agriculture, in order to attain a marked and sustainable growth in the sector.
The endorsement of the CAADP Compact will signify the commitment of the Swaziland Government and all key stakeholders involved in advancing the agriculture development agenda, towards investing in selected priority areas that will ensure enhanced economic growth, food and nutrition security.
The ceremony is expected to be officiated by senior representatives of the Swaziland Government. In addition, the AU Commission and NEPAD, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the CAADP Pillar Lead Institutions, Development Partners, the Private Sector, Farmers Organizations, Academics and Civil Society are also expected to participate in the discussions and final endorsement of the Compact.
Established in 2003, NEPAD’s CAADP is the highest policy level framework for the development of agriculture in Africa. COMESA has the mandate to implement the CAADP agenda in Eastern and Southern Africa.
While the majority of the citizens of COMESA derive livelihood from agriculture, the sector’s overall productivity is low. The main challenges to enhanced agricultural development and competitiveness in COMESA are market-related challenges, technological obstacles and policy constraints that lead to low agricultural productivity resulting in food insecurity.
Swaziland will be the 4th country in COMESA to sign the CAADP Compact after Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia. Several other Member States in the COMESA region are also lined up to sign-up in 2010.
Source: COMESA
