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STATEMENT BY H.E MRS. TUMUSIIME RHODA PEACE, COMMISSIONER FOR RURAL ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE, AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION

AT THE OPENING OF THE MEETING ON HARMONIZATION OF REGIONAL AND NATIONAL STRATEGIES WITH THE INTEGRATED AFRICAN STRATEGY ON METEOROLOGY (WEATHER AND CLIMATE SERVICES) AND VALIDATION OF THE DRAFT IMPLEMENTATION AND RESOURCE MOBILIZATION PLAN ON THE MARGINS OF 11TH MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE OF ECOWAS DIRECTORS OF METEOROLOGY

KAIRABA Beach Hotel, BANJUL

THE GAMBIA

15 – 16 MAY 2014
 

- Honourable Mass Axi Gye, Minister of Fisheries and Water Resources
- Madam Chairperson, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries and Water Resources
- Chair of African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) Expert (Dr. Amos Makarau ably represented by newly elected Chair of ECOWAS Committee of Directors of Meteorology, Mr. Bernard Gomez from The Gambian Meteorology
- Dr. Johnson Boanuh, Director, ECOWAS Commission
- Dr Joseph R. Mukabana, Executive Secretary – AMCOMET Secretariat
- Eminent Experts from African Union Member States
- Representatives of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and African Regional Institutions - ECOWAS, ECCAS, AMU, ACMAD, AGRHYMET and CILSS here present
- Representatives of the AU Commission, AMCOMET Secretariat
- Representatives of the Development Partners – UN agencies – WMO, here present
- Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen

It is indeed a great pleasure and honour for me to address the eminent gathering of experts gathered here in this beautiful city of Banjul at the opening of the Meeting on Harmonization of Regional and National Strategies with the Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology (Weather and Climate Services) and the Validation of the Draft Implementation and Resource Mobilization Plan on the margins of the 11th Meeting of the Committee of ECOWAS Directors of Meteorology taking place from 15 – 16 May 2014.

Honourable Minister, Madam Chairperson, let me begin first and foremost, by transmitting the warm wishes of Her Excellency, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the Commission and H.E. Mrs. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union to you all. The Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture would have loved to be personally here but she had to attend to some pressing official work. I also want take this opportunity, on behalf of the Commission of the African Union to express our deep appreciation to the government and the people of The Gambia for hosting these two meetings here in Banjul. Allow me to particularly convey our profound appreciation to the Honourable Mass Axi Gye, The Gambian Minister of Fisheries and Water Resource for making time available to be at the opening of this meeting despite the Minister’s tight schedule. This is an attestation of the passion that The Gambia places on the issue of Meteorology. I would like to further use this medium to express our deep appreciation to the ECOWAS Commission for facilitating the organization of this meeting.

Honourable Minister, Madam Chairperson, permit me to welcome all delegates – the eminent experts from the Member States, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) – ECOWAS, ECCAS and AMU, African Regional Institutions and Development Partners attending this meeting. I would like to state that we value your presence at this meeting that would be discussing the Harmonization of Regional and National Strategies with the Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology (Weather and Climate Services) and the Validation of the Draft Implementation and Resource Mobilization Plan. I also want to once again acknowledge the excellent work done by the Commission of ECOWAS in preparation for this meeting; the Secretariat of the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) and the World Meteorological Organization for engaging Consultants to support the work of AMCOMET in preparation for the Third AMCOMET meeting that is scheduled to hold this year.

Honourable Minister, Madam Chairperson, allow me at this juncture to recall that the Executive Council at the Twentieth Session of the African Union Assembly in January 2013 adopted the Decision on the Report of the Second Session of the African Union Conference of Ministers responsible for Meteorology and the African Ministerial Conference on the Meteorology (AMCOMET) held in Victoria Falls, Republic of Zimbabwe from 15 to 19 October 2012. The EXCO Decision – EX.CL/Dec.744(XXII) endorsed amongst others things; the Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology (Weather and Climate Services); the establishment of a Task Force to draft the Implementation Plan for the Integrated Strategy on Meteorology (Weather and Climate Services) with detailed annual operational plans; and the drafting of the Resource Mobilization Strategy for the Implementation Plan, to be submitted for consideration at the Third Session of AMCOMET in 2014. Eminent Experts, this meeting is being convene to harmonize the national and regional strategies on Meteorology with the continental strategy and also validate the draft Implementation and Resource Mobilization Plan for the continent strategy. The Experts and Stakeholders’ Meeting held in February 2014 in Addis Ababa at the Headquarters of the African Union Commission deliberated on the draft Implementation and Resource Mobilization Plan hence this meeting is therefore very timely as it would afford the opportunity for the Member States from the ECOWAS, ECCAS and AMU region to discuss validate the draft Implementation and Resource Mobilization Plan in preparation for the next meeting of the AMCOMET Bureau taking place later this month in Zimbabwe and subsequent presentation to the Third AMCOMET meeting that is scheduled to hold later this year.

Honourable Minister, Madam Chairperson, the development of the Implementation Plan for the Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology cannot be underscored as it would help to improve the generation of climate information on the African continent; enhance the capacity of our National and Hydro-Meteorological Services to explore the potential of Earth Observation (EO) technologies in monitoring droughts, floods, weather, climate, fisheries, rangelands, forests, etc as a tool for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The Project on the African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development in Africa now succeeded by the programme Monitoring of the Environment for Security in Africa (MESA) is now finalizing the Grants Preparation Stage and it is expected that MESA’s products and services will benefit Africa as regards their use in early warning systems, predictions in agricultural production, disaster risk reduction, and management of natural resource as tools for policy makers. The validation of the draft Implementation and Resource Mobilization Plan for the Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology is further timely as Africa is currently discussing the African Agenda 2063 on: Pan Africanism and African Renaissance; and in addition we are commemorating the Tenth Year of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

I have no doubt that the validation of the Implementation Plan will also support our climate change negotiators in the run up to the Twentieth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 20) that is scheduled to take place in December 2014 in Lima, Peru.

Distinguished Delegates, as you all aware, the AU Commission along with the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for African / African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) is also implementing a climate related programme on Climate Information for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) to support the Regional Economic Communities and Member States and effectively integrate climate information and services into development planning and also ensure the mainstreaming of climate considerations into policies and programmes directed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the post 2015 Sustainable Development Target and sustainable development in Africa. ClimDev-Africa Programme is the collective effort of the three key African Regional institutions to foster a common and coordinated response to climate change throughout the continent. In particular, it will build the capacities of relevant African institutions for enhanced information generation; analysis; and policy-making.

The ClimDev-Africa Programme will thus help to build lasting policy capacities to adequately respond to the challenges of climate change, adding distinct value to the many ongoing activities related to climate change in Africa. As a strategic complement to these climate – related programmes and other initiatives, ClimDev-Africa seeks to directly fund adaptation projects and activities; focus on enabling climate-related information for multi-stakeholder decision-making; and funding pre-investment activities in the climate sensitive sectors.

Currently, the African Group including Ministers are meeting in Abuja to garner the contribution of Africa to the global efforts on the post 2015 Hyogo Framework for Action. Madam Chairperson, All these Programmes and events taking place at the same period set the stage for advancing a transformative development agenda that can serve the needs of climate resilient economic, environmental, and social systems in Africa, while sharing and clarifying messages from Africa regarding meteorological information, climate change and development.

Honourable Minister, Madam Chairperson, I would like to conclude by assuring you all that AU Commission is fully committed to supporting the activities of the meteorology on improved weather and climate services in Africa; the activities of AMCOMET; and the implementation of the Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology (Weather and Climate Services).

Honourable Minister, Madam Chairperson, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, I look forward to your active participation and the fruitful outcomes of your deliberation at this Meeting.

I thank you all for your kind attention.
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CLOSING STATEMENT BY H.E TUMUSIIME RHODA PEACE
COMMISSIONER RURAL ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE
AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION
AT THE RETREAT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF RURAL ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE, 4 JULY 2014 NAIROBI, KENYA
 
The Director of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture
The Directors and Coordinators of the Specialised Technical Offices
The members of staff of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture
We have come to the end of two intense working days of our departmental retreat. I want to thank you all for your active participation and valuable contribution on the issues we had on our agenda.
This was not an easy period to hold a retreat. It has been extremely demanding on our time. But, the Management of the Department still thought it was necessary to have this retreat at this particular time. I know quite a number wanted to take leave and I thank you for opting to come here first.
I would also like to say that there is a paradigm shift in the way we are conducting business. I would like to appreciate that we did not delve into minor issues but strategic ones. I would like to request you to continue building on the substantive work we have built up together. It has been impressive to see you focus on issues, inputs, outputs, visioning and direction.
We have agreed on key issues in the context of the DREA Strategic and Operational Plan and the outcomes of the just concluded AU Summit in Malabo, you have all shown interest in the issues we are dealing with and these are important issues which require our individual and collective action. Let’s keep up the momentum.
Several of you may be going on leave from here; others may not. Either way, I wish to call upon you to take off time to reflect on your respective areas for action. Also guide and support one another and if one of you is not there he or she should have shown you where he or she stopped so that you carry on from there. That is the way we shall be able to accomplish the tasks that we have set for ourselves within the agreed time frames.
As you recall, we have developed a roadmap; we need to report quickly to help agreed actions move forward. The movement forward should reflect the very rich and highly interactive session we have had.
I know that there are issues of funding. I will try to do what I can at my level of responsibility though I know that begging everyday is not good.
Let me thank the specialised technical offices. I always present your case when there are high-level meetings like summits so that you attend and engage. The tendency has been to consider representational offices and not so much the specialised technical offices. This time round I made deliberate efforts to secure the extension of invitations to you as well. It was difficult but I am glad we managed and you came to the Summit in Malabo. I am sorry for those who experienced some constraints and those who had to cut short their stay. But I know that those who managed to persist and stay found it worth it.
Dr. Hassan Mahamat, Coordinator of PATTEC has thanked each and everyone while moving a vote of thanks. It has been an excellent engagement. I would like, in particular, to thank AU-IBAR, our host; they have put in a lot. I wish in particular to commend the arrangement that was made for those who were not eating with us to be able to break their fast in the evenings.
Now, as we go away, I can only say bon voyage. Coming together, thinking together and planning together is always good. I remember, Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, former Head of Agriculture and Food Security, when he was assuming his current position as Executive Director of FARA, he told his staff something to the effect that: ‘‘we need to work together, think together, move together and deliver together’’. This message has value. I see a linkage; I have seen you all building a family relationship together, chatting; it gives me encouragement.
Please send our greetings to your families. Travel well.
Thank you very much.

OPENING STATEMENT BY H.E TUMUSIIME RHODA PEACE
COMMISSIONER RURAL ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE
AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION AT THE RETREAT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF RURAL ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE
3 JULY 2014 NAIROBI, KENYA
 
The Director of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture
The Directors and Coordinators of the Specialised Technical Offices
The members of staff of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture
Good morning to you. Let me take this opportunity to welcome you all to this important retreat. It is now an established practice that twice a year we get together to reflect and focus on our own mandate as a Department. I would like to thank all those of you that have been working so hard to put this retreat together. I would also like to thank the Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) for hosting us. We need to get an offer, by the time we leave here, from another specialised technical office to host our next retreat.
I am happy you all look well and healthy. I also welcome those of you who have just returned from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea to attend the AU Summit. Those of you who were there must have seen DREA at work! I wish to thank the DREAM Team under the leadership of the Director, Dr Abebe Haile Gabriel; you made us proud. At the same time I must commend all of you for your individual and collective contribution to the successes achieved at the AU Summit and especially the areas concerning us given that the theme was ours.
We come in for a period. As we start thinking of winding up our stay, we will be vry happy. When I came in we used to sit and fit around a table. But now the department has grown in numbers, in business and in delivery. This foundation we have built together will take DREA to greater heights for the good of the continent. We should all think more about what happens at the grassroots.
We are all pleased with the outcomes of the Malabo Summit on all the issues that were deliberated upon concerning our Department ranging from agriculture, food and nutrition security, climate change, water and sanitation to wildlife flora and fauna and related areas including specialised technical committees, intra-African trade, Africa Agenda 2063, and post-2015 Development Agenda, among others.
I am sure you all know that the outcomes of the Summit place heavy responsibility on our shoulders especially in respect of developing the roadmap for implementing the Assembly decision and declaration on African Agricultural Growth and Transformation, which the Commission is required to present to the next Summit in January 2015.
This, as you are aware, also coincides and falls perfectly within our Departmental Strategic and Operational Plan whose implementation starts this year and we are expected to enhance our efforts and partnerships to deliver results and impacts in the areas of food and nutrition security as well as sustainable development. Once again, I thank you all for your active participation and valuable inputs in the formulation and finalisation of our Strategic Plan and for the efforts you are already deploying towards its implementation.
I trust that you are all ready to hit the road for its implementation in earnest and in the process, the implementation of the relevant decisions of the AU Policy Organs, particularly those emanating from the 23rd Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
As you continue to work hard you will be required to pay extra attention to reporting in a timely fashion and as per the formats agreed on. For managers, you will continue to coordinate and guide our work. All members of staff will be expected to enhance our interaction and mutual support to deliver on our common mandate.
With these few remarks, I am now opening the retreat officially and I wish you all the success.
Thank you.

Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture
Presentation of the Theme of the Year of Agriculture and Food Security in Africa
by H.E. Mrs Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture
on “Transforming Africa’s Agriculture for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods through Harnessing Opportunities for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development”
at the 23rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union

26 June 2014
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Excellency, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea
Excellency, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Chairperson of the African Union,
Excellences Heads of State and Government of the African Union,
Excellency Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the AU Commission
Excellency Banki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations
Excellences, Colleagues Commissioners
Excellency, Dr. Ibrahim Essane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer, NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency
Distinguished representatives of Regional Economic Communities,
Excellences, Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished representatives of African and international organisations,
Distinguished representatives of Africa's development partner institutions,
Members of the Media,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
All protocols observed.
It is my singular honour to introduce, for Your Excellences’ debate, the theme of the Year of Agriculture and Food Security.
Excellences, would recall that at the 22nd Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly on the 30th of January 2014, you formally launched the process and roadmap for this defining year under the theme "Transforming Africa's agriculture for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods through capturing opportunities for inclusive growth and sustainable development."
This theme echoes well with that of the just-concluded year-long commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the OAU now AU, that is "Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance" as well as with the Vision of the pan-African transformative Agenda 2063 - “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.”
This is because ensuring an inclusive and transformative agricultural growth that builds self-reliance of the African citizenry, including for food and nutrition security is central to re-asserting African dignity.
Your Excellences’ debate on this theme today is expected to provide strategic direction and guidance for renewed and heightened commitments on concrete goals and targets in advancing Africa's agricultural growth and transformation agenda for the next decade.
Excellences, my short presentation focuses on four interrelated aspects of the theme, notably the opportunities, taking stock of the progress made, the challenges, the vision and its realisation.
I will begin with the immense opportunities that the global and continental dynamics are presenting for Africa to harness as we embark upon a transformative agricultural development.
The best outlooks available today indicate that, the projected increase of global population from 7.2 billion today to 9.6 billion by 2050, necessitates an increment of food production globally by at least 60%. And since Africa is home to a population that is increasing the fastest, Africa’s demand for food is projected to almost triple by 2050, increasing by 178% compared to 89% in India and 31% in China. These are triggered, in addition to population growth, by rapid urbanization and income growth.
Sources such as the World Bank projects that the African urban food market will grow 4-fold to exceed a total annual worth of US$ 400 billion by 2030. The total value of the agri-food system business (from farm-to-table) that is required to meet Africa's booming demand is estimated at 1 trillion US dollars, including a potential for Africa to triple the value of its annual agricultural output from US$ 280 billion today to some US$ 800 billion by 2030.
Excellences, as you engage in today’s debate, this snap-shot of figures is intended to provide a clearer sense of the magnitude of the considerable opportunities that exist for African to seize and facilitate actions for accelerating the structural transformation of Africa's agriculture for food and nutrition security, broad-based and inclusive economic growth and shared prosperity. We recognize that some AU Member States are already positioning themselves in this regard and tapping on these opportunities and we recommend that many more do so at a heightened scale.
Excellences, the second aspect of my presentation relates to stock-taking of the progress made on CAADP since its adoption in 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique.
With the benefit of hindsight, your decision to adopt the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) at your 2nd Ordinary Session in 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique, as an Africa-owned and Africa-led framework to guide the agricultural development process, remains one of the monumental decisions to-date. Among other things, it has enabled agriculture to move to the centre of Africa’s development agenda. Ten years on, most of the AU Member States have formally embraced the CAADP framework and used it while reviewing and refining their policies, strategies and investment plans. Similar progress is being made at the regional level, with RECs having been active in rolling out the CAADP. It is encouraging to note that these policy and institutional interventions have spurred agricultural growth, as growth in the agricultural sector increased, under CAADP, from the historical stagnation or even decline of the previous few decades to an average of 4% per year.
Moreover, a few AU Member States have registered remarkable agricultural growth rates, exceeding the CAADP target of 6%, thus attesting clearly that the rest of the AU Member States can do it as well.
Similarly, we have witnessed progress on the allocation of public expenditures to agriculture, which has been increasing at an average rate of 7.4% per year since the adoption of the CAADP. While such an increase suggests doubling in volume of expenditures compared to the pre-2003 levels, comparatively, however, it has been increasing at a lesser rate than gross public expenditure during the same time. Several Member States have been making efforts to meet the CAADP target of allocating at least 10% of public expenditure to agriculture; and most importantly they are seeing the benefits of according primacy to this strategic sector. This needs to be encouraged and sustained if we are to optimally exploit the opportunities I just hinted on.
Excellences, at this juncture, please permit me to highlight some of the structural challenges and issues that call for urgent action.
While we recognize the encouraging performance of the agricultural sector over the last few years, we are also faced with the realities that hunger and malnutrition have still been prevalent in Africa; that dependence and vulnerability of economies and livelihoods on factors outside Africa’s control is increasing, seriously undermining our aspirations and efforts aimed at self-reliance. According to recent estimates, Africa’s agri-food import bill has increased stubbornly to reach an average of 45-50 billion US$ per year.
The fact that Africa is among the fastest growing regions in the world on the one hand, and, yet it is the most food insecure continent with more than a fifth of its population categorized as undernourished on the other hand, remains Africa’s Paradox today. We know that the root cause of this is to be ascribed to the low level of agricultural productivity, organized around a subsistence mode, which is also hampering sustainable structural transformation of Africa’s economies. Macroeconomic trends indicate that the share of agriculture in GDP has been declining and that of the service sector expanding in Africa, but with a stagnant or even declining share of industrial particularly manufacturing sector, thus leading to a big number of people remaining in agriculture.
Such an imbalance has effectively delinked the productive sectors, i.e., agriculture and industry, with serious repercussions on job creation, productivity, value-addition, competitiveness, and self-reliance. In the process, Africa is being converted into a dumping ground for imported consumer items driven by speculative rent-seeking trade practices. It is also draining our scarce foreign exchange and overshadowing our potential to meet our needs.
Worse still, some projections tell us that, under a "business as usual scenario," Africa's agricultural production will cover only less than 15% of the continent's needs by 2050! Heavy dependence on increasing imports that are becoming expensive, unreliable and volatile, to feed the continent’s fast-growing and urbanizing population in the face of considerable potential for increased production and intra-regional trade in food, can hardly be a sustainable food security strategy and, more so, in the context of climate change.
Excellences, if I may read your minds, the bottom line is that the current production trend is not sustainable at all! And clearly such a gloomy future can simply not be part of our Vision of the Africa future We Want!
The good news is that Africa can rise up to the challenges of realizing its potentials and its vision through harnessing the domestic and global opportunities, by embracing an Agenda for Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods – which is the theme of Your Excellence’s debate today.
This brings me to the third aspect of my presentation: that is, our vision of the Agriculture Future We want for Africa to prevail in a decade’s time (by 2025): a vision that is articulated through a series of broad-based consultations carried out by the AU Commission and the NEPAD Agency with key stakeholders and partners, as part of our commemoration of the Year of Agriculture and Food Security. I will sum it up in four aspirations: modernization, business, resilience and realization of potential.
First, we want a future Africa that has modernized its agricultural and food sector so that it becomes a highly productive, competitive, profitable, rewarding and, therefore, attractive to those who are engaged in it, in particular the youth and women. Clearly hand-hoe based agriculture is not compatible with the transformation agenda.
Second, we want a future Africa that has organized its agriculture as a viable business that is contributing to and benefiting from the industrialization and an economy-wide transformation agenda; which can be achieved through deliberate actions to develop agro-processing, agro-industries and agribusinesses. The agenda of agricultural transformation is about walking up the value-chain ladder along agro-industrial and agribusiness development patterns that contribute to further job-creation and income-generation and, therefore, shared prosperity, as these in turn catalyse production to greater heights. I have already mentioned the huge potential of these sub-sectors in revolutionarising change and development in Africa.
Third, we want an Africa that has significantly built its resilience capacity to mitigate and adapt to shocks that prey on its high vulnerabilities to natural and human made risks, including climate change, and/or economic shocks, including unsustainable dependence on food imports.
Fourth, we want an Africa that harnesses its immense potentials, including its markets, the resourcefulness of its people, and its huge resource abundance, in driving its transformation agenda.
Excellences, now I turn to my fourth and last, but not least, aspect of my presentation: that is, on the crucial significance of translating the vision into reality, that of transforming potentials into possibilities. Yes, we can choose to realize our vision, and the extensive consultations conducted in the context of Africa Agenda 2063 have shown us that we know what it takes to get there! And most importantly, we believe that there is enough knowledge and experience around to capitalize on to realize our vision of the agriculture future we want.
As I mentioned above, the elements of what it takes to realize our vision have also been subject to scrutiny at different levels of stakeholders’ consultations, involving experts from AU Member States, the private sector, civil society, farmers organisations, women and youth, as well as our partners. The key issues that have been formulated and examined at several fora, including the 10th CAADP Partnership Platform meeting that was held in March 2014 in Durban, South Africa, a forum of over 650 participants from all categories of key stakeholders of Africa's agri-food system, were considered by your ministers at the AU Joint Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture held on 1st and 2nd of May 2014 at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa. The said Ministers adopted Resolutions and Key messages for Your Excellences’ consideration, as you debate on the theme here in Malabo.
Excellences, an important aspect of our knowledge of what it takes to realize the potentials and the vision relates to the most fundamental driver of change and development in Africa; that is political determination, for which we are confident that it exists right here. Your Excellences have the political will accompanying your sense of mission. And, therefore,, as you debate on the theme, I wish to draw Your Excellence’s consideration to the clarion calls for your exceptional leadership and guidance on the following six (6) set of commitments that are absolutely necessary in our collective struggle to realize our visions and goals.
1. Agricultural growth and transformation, first and foremost, must address the challenges of hunger and malnutrition. To this end, we need the actualization of Your Excellences commitment to Ending Hunger in Africa by 2025, which can be achieved through several interventions pertaining to accelerating productivity growth, reducing post-harvest losses and enhancing nutrition, among others.
2. It is inconceivable that most value-added in African global agricultural value chains occur outside of Africa, effectively forcing Africa to lose from foregone employment, skills and incomes opportunities. Yet, these have the most profound impact on the largest number of people. Your Excellences, we seek your commitment to an inclusive Agricultural Growth and Transformation that can contribute to poverty reduction by at least half, by the year 2025, through various actions in the areas of commodity value chains and empowerment of women and youth.
3. Africa's agri-food systems need to become not only more productive, but also competitive, with a view to stemming the continent's heavy dependence on food imports, meeting the fast-growing and diversifying demands of intra-African local, national and regional markets and beyond, responding to the demands of a growing and exigent global market. We need Your Excellences demonstration of commitment to boost intra-African Trade through: tripling, by the year 2025, intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and services; and creating and enhancing policies and institutional conditions and support systems especially those related to agribusiness and agro-industries.
4. Africa's agricultural transformation should aim at enhancing the resilience of the livelihoods and production systems of rural households (including farmers, pastoralists and fisher folks) to climate and other related risks. To this end, we need Your Excellences’ heightened commitment towards building resilience and reducing vulnerability.
5. We strongly believe that Africa's agricultural transformation must rest first and foremost on Africa's own resources and resourcefulness as Pan Africanism and African Renaissance has at its core not only self-determination but also self-reliance. This is the most powerful and candid way to demonstrate not only our resolve but also our ownership and leadership of the African agricultural transformation agenda. As Africans, we must first look within ourselves, mobilise and harness public and private domestic resources, before seeking external help. To this end, we seek Your Excellences’ renewed commitment to enhance Investment Finance, both public and private, in Agriculture through upholding earlier commitments but also through creating and enhancing necessary appropriate policy and institutional conditions and support systems for the facilitation of private investment in agriculture, agri-business and agro-industries. This will be instrumental in leveraging private sector investment finance, through effective public-private partnerships, well beyond the current low level of 5.8% of total commercial lending to agriculture -- to a scale that is commensurate with the wealth and job creation potential of transformed agri-food systems that Africa cannot afford to miss in the next 10 years.
Your Excellences’ leadership and guidance on actions in the five areas I just outlined are definitely key for realizing our vision of the agriculture future we want. However, effective delivery on such commitments will require improved sector governance, coordination and capacity strengthening, which in turn entail several actions.

To this end, therefore we need Your Excellences’ commitment towards Mutual Accountability to Actions and Results through a periodic, possibly biennial Agricultural Review Process akin to the existing African Peer Review Mechanism; fostering alignment, harmonisation and coordination among multi-sectorial efforts and multi-institutional platforms for peer review, mutual learning and mutual accountability; and strengthening national and regional institutional capacities for knowledge and data generation and management that support evidence based planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
And finally, in recognition of the instrumentality and the added value that CAADP has been demonstrating over the last decade of experience, we need Your Excellences’ recommitment to the Principles and Values of the CAADP Process and for sustaining the momentum.
Once again, Your Excellences, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, it has been a singular honour for me to highlight key outcomes and messages of a highly inclusive consultative process on sustaining the momentum of Africa's agricultural transformation agenda for your highest consideration, deliberations and strategic guidance.
I thank Your Excellences for your kind attention.

Statement for H.E Tumusiime Rhoda Peace
Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture
at the African Agribusiness Forum
22 June 2014,
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Excellency Fatima Acyl, The Commissioner Trade and Industry of the African Union
Excellency, The Commissioner Political Affairs
Representatives from our Regional Economic Communities,
Development Partners,
Representatives from the Private Sector,
Civil Society Organisations,
The Youth
Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is with honour and pleasure that I welcome you to the African Agribusiness Forum at Malabo, Republic of Equatorial Guinea.

We would like to salute the Government of Equatorial Guinea for the warm welcome and the good environment for this forum and the summit.

We consider the last decade to have been phenomenal in redefining and reshaping the critical path to the attainment of Africa`s agricultural transformation objectives. Between 2002 and 2013, real GDP in Africa grew on average by more than 5 per cent annually, more than twice as much as the 80’s and 90’s. Never before has Africa experienced such rapid growth rates for an extended period. It is also evident that future growth on the continent will be supported by external trends such as the global scramble for commodities on account of rapid world population growth, fast urbanisation and accompanying consumption patterns. With world food production needing to rise by 40% over the next 30 years, Africa features as an indispensable part of the solution.

Excellencies,
The African Union has placed among its top priorities the improvement of the productive capacity of the agricultural sector. Studies have indicated that increasing agricultural production and productivity could boost Africa’s overall GDP growth rate by 1 percentage point annually - generating a 6% increase in overall expenditure of the poorest 10% of the population and this augurs well for the pursuit of inclusiveness towards the attainment of the aspiration for prosperity. We are also aware that by 2050, Africa will be home to one- fifth of the world’s population. Not only does the continent have the world’s fastest growing population but also has the youngest. This rapid growth, combined with a strong trend towards urbanization, poses a huge challenge for peace and security, economic opportunity and food security. It is within our hands to harness these opportunities and overcome the challenges to propel the African continent forward in the context of Pan Africanism and African Renaissance.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, while we recognise the pivotal position and role of smallholder farmers in African agriculture, we also note with concern that most small-scale farmers are more than 50 years old, many of them retirees and from salaried employment. At this rate we may no cope with the compelling continental and global megatrends that call for transformation of agriculture with well-designed and properly executed strategies to attract and retain youth in agriculture and farming. Also in the last 50 years, slow progress on agribusiness has been largely due to extremely low scale use of modern inputs, mechanization and irrigation. Additionally, there has been inadequate and often uncoordinated investment in agriculture and agribusiness by the private and public sector. Fortunately, there is momentum towards correcting this.

The recent AU Joint Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 1st to 2nd May 2014 adopted a Resolution endorsing seven Africa Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation Goals (3AGTGs) to 2025 for consideration by the AU Heads of State Summit here in Malabo. The joint conference recommended among other things the need to enhance Public-Private Partnerships and Investment Financing for African Agriculture and called on stakeholders to establish and/or strengthen inclusive public-private partnerships for at least five (5) priority agricultural commodity value chains with strong linkage to smallholder agriculture and strengthen the capacities of domestic apex private sector intermediary institutions for inclusive facilitation and coordination to ensure engagement of private sector in CAADP implementation. The African Agribusiness Forum will, therefore, provide an opportunity for men, women and youth stakeholders in the agribusiness sector to discuss and develop concrete strategies for the realization of these recommendations.

The purpose of this forum is, therefore, to enable stakeholders in the agribusiness sector to discuss and develop concrete strategies for the realization of the recommendations by the AU Joint Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture on Enhancing Public-Private Partnerships and Investment Financing for African Agriculture

The implementation of the Ministerial Commitments and later those of Heads of State and Government, will require policies and strategies that place the development of agriculture and agribusiness at the centre of economic and social development. Learning levels and scaling out of best practices need to be increased. If these trends continue, Africa will be playing an increasingly important role in the global economy by 2050 and that again is one of the aspirations of the AU for Africa to become a dynamic force in the global arena. With a predicted labour force size of 1.1 billion, the size of Africa’s labour force will overtake China and India to become the largest worldwide. But we do not want top only bypass by numbers but also by skills in science, technology and innovation – and, here, the role of the private sector is critical in partnership with government and other stakeholders. We also still note that the risks and costs of African agriculture are still too high for farmers, SMEs, and investors to be globally competitive. The good news is that we see AU Member States’ Government keen on accelerating action to improve the enabling environment in response to market priorities. We would like to see the private sector seize the opportunity presented by this paradigm.

We further recognise that enhanced agricultural performance is key to growth and poverty reduction through its direct impact on job creation, especially for women and youth; on food security and improved nutrition. Therefore, the year 2014, the year of Agriculture and Food Security and the marking 10th Anniversary CAADP is an important milestone and an opportunity to be seized by leaders and partners in the resolve to transform agriculture and advance food and nutrition security as a priority for policy and actions to generate concrete results and impacts in terms of health, jobs and incomes.

In order to bring the almost 600 million hectares of cropland into cultivation in an environmentally sustainable way, Africa’s increased access to capital and its ability to form new types of economic partnerships with investors will aid further growth. Hence, Africa’s agricultural growth will continue to be about government actions as our governments continue to increase their investment in agriculture - the catalytic investments by the private sector and development partners will continue to be critical in advancing the development of the value chain.

Therefore, the private sector must uphold their defining character of innovativeness and willingness to take on and share risk. The quality, focus and scale of collaboration must improve across all partners if we are to truly unlock sustainable investment in agriculture.

Again, the good news is that investment is starting to move, operations are growing, and, encouragingly, companies, finance institutions and investors are all demonstrating a serious strategic intent to work with smallholders and SMEs to expand economic and business opportunities in agriculture. Innovations on business models, finance, technology and public sector interests are combining to improve the commercial equation for investments along agricultural value chains from family farms to processing facilities and service providers. Further improvement in post-harvest management and processing of agricultural commodities is critical in expanding the regional agricultural trade that underpins wealth creation and food security.

On the private sector front, coordinated efforts through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) should receive the highest priority and has the power to transform the continent through long-term capital investments, creating both economic prosperity and social wealth. Similarly, we have noted from best practices and success stories in a number of AU Member States that a strong and visionary public and private leadership committed to the implementation of consistent policies, strategy and regulatory frameworks is a factor in the successful transformation of the agriculture sector. However, industrialization of agriculture remains critical to drive growth. Lessons from agricultural development achieved in emerging economies show that integration needs to go beyond the agriculture sector to build synergies with other sectors of the economy including both soft and hard infrastructure such as transport, ICT, intra-African trade and related financial services. The importance of a symbiotic relationship between agriculture industry and services cannot be overemphasised.

We should, therefore, set ourselves the goal of making 2014 a milestone year, a tipping point where we convert our commitments to deliver outcomes on the ground. This is the essence of Africa’s Year of Agriculture and Food Security.

These experiences are strong indicators that inclusive growth as advocated under CAADP is a process requiring sustained and concerted actions and efforts in application of quality policies, strategies, programmes, and investments driven by strong political commitment and leadership and fostering effective partnerships.

It is, therefore, desirable that in the next decade we together build on this momentum to deliver in an accelerated manner, positive changes towards prosperity that directly impacts on livelihoods of African citizens through an inclusive agricultural transformation process.

For us at the AU with the leadership of the AUC under the stewardship of H.E Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the AU Commission, remain committed to working with you in moving the African agricultural transformation agenda forward.

It is my expectation that the outcomes of today’s deliberations will input in the debate on Agriculture on the 26th June 2014 at the 23rd Ordinary Session of the African Union Heads of State and Government here in Malabo.

Thank you and I wish you fruitful deliberations.
Dates:
Jun.22.2014