Ministers resolve to address food security and impacts of climate change within the community
Draft EAC Food Security Action Plan; draft EAC Climate Change Policy; and draft Declaration on Food Security and Climate Change for further improvements
East African Community Secretariat, Arusha, Tanzania, 8 March 2010 - The Sectoral Council of Ministers for Lake Victoria Basin and the Multi-Sectoral meeting on Food Security and Climate Change concluded their meetings on 4 March 2010 in Kisumu, Kenya with a firm resolve to address food insecurity and impacts of climate change within the East African Community.
The Multi-Sectoral Council, which was chaired by Hon. Prof. Mark J. Mwandosya, Minister of Water and Irrigation from The United Republic of Tanzania, considered and provided critical inputs on the draft EAC Food Security Action Plan; the draft EAC Climate Change Policy; and the draft Declaration on Food Security and Climate Change that are to be presented to the EAC Heads of State at a special Summit on 26 March 2010 in Arusha, Tanzania.
The draft EAC Food Security Action Plan; draft EAC Climate Change Policy; and draft Declaration on Food Security and Climate Change have been submitted to Partner States for further scrutiny. Partner States are to submit their comments on these critical documents to the EAC Secretariat by 18 March 2010 for consolidation. The EAC Secretariat is to submit the consolidated drafts to the 20th Council of Ministers meeting scheduled to meet on 19-24 March 2010.
The EAC Agriculture and Rural Development Policy (EAC-ARDP) recognises the importance of eliminating hunger and ensuring sustainable food security within the region as a necessary step towards poverty eradication and consequently a stimulus for rational agricultural development and realisation of the aspirations of the Treaty establishing the EAC. However, before and since the signing of the Treaty, the ability of the Partner States to achieve individual and collective durable food security status has been elusive. This has been further compounded by the negative impacts of climate change.
The overall objective of the EAC Treaty regarding cooperation in agriculture and rural development is the achievement of food security and rational agricultural production. Further, the EAC ARDP aims at attaining food security through increased agricultural production, processing, storage and marketing.
The EAC ARDP guides the development of strategies and programmes and projects for realisation of the above goals of the EAC. This action plan has been developed to guide the implementation and actualisation of a regional food security objective.
The adverse impacts of climate change are a threat to the livelihoods of people in almost all sectors of the economy in the EAC region. Severe droughts, floods and indeed extreme weather phenomena are occurring with greater frequency and intensity in the region. Climate change has thus become a leading contributor to among others; food insecurity, insufficient hydro-power, increases in pests and diseases, water scarcity and severe damage to infrastructure.
The increase of the average global temperature, as indicated in the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC, 2007), will further aggravate climate change in the EAC region, worsening the state of food security and threatening all the other drivers of economic development. Hence the need for an integrated, harmonised and multi-sectoral framework for responding to climate change in the EAC region.
The overall objective of the East African Community Climate Change Policy (EACCCP) is to guide Partner States and other stakeholders on the preparation and implementation of collective measures to address climate change in the region while assuring sustainable social and economic development.
The guiding principles in implementing the Policy are in accordance with the EAC Treaty, the EAC Protocol on Environment and Natural Resources, the Protocol on Sustainable Development of Lake Victoria Basin as well as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) among others.
The Kisumu meeting was attended by Hon. Maria Mutagamba, Uganda’s Minister of Water and Environment; Hon. Hafsa Mossi, Burundi’s Minister of East African Community Affairs; Hon. Dr. Paul N. Otuoma, Minister for Fisheries Development of the Republic of Kenya; and Hon. Stanislas Kamanzi, Rwanda’s Minister of Environment and Lands.
The meeting was also attended by Permanent Secretaries and Senior Officials, members of the Food Security and Climate Change Sectors of Partner States; officials from the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO), Lake Victoria Regional Local Authorities Cooperation (LAVRLAC), Nile Equatorial Lake Subsidiary Action Programme (NELSAP) of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as observers. Officials from the EAC and LVBC Secretariats were also in attendance.
For further information please contact:
Richard Owora Othieno
Ag. Head of Department
Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
Phone: +256 718 358664 / +255 784 835021
Email: othieno@eachq.org
Department of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
