Special Page Front Page

Statement by Mr. Laila Lokosang, Caadp Adviser Food and Nutrition Security Delivered on Behalf of: her Excellency Mrs.Tumusiime Rhoda Peace Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture the African Union Commission on the Occasion of: the Opening of the Conference on Meeting Africa’s Agriculture Transformation and Food Security Goal UNECA Conference Centre Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 01 October, 2014

EXCELLENCY GARY QUINCE, HEAD OF EU DELEGATION TO THE AFRICAN UNION,
DR. STEPHEN KARINGI, REPRESENTATIVE OF THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA;
MR. NEIL HUBBARD, HEAD OF EU JOINT RESEARCH CENTER, MARS;
MR. LUCA RUSSO, REPRESENTING FAO,
MR. ARIF HUSSEIN, REPRESENTING WFP,
MR. GARY EILERT, REPRESENTING FEWSNET,
DISTINGUISHED DELEGATES;
ALL PROTOCOL OBSERVED,
I convey to you greetings from the Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agricultureof the African Union Commission, Her Excellency Mrs. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace who unfortunately could not make it at this time to open this auspicious Conference, as she travelled to New York to attend this Year’s United Nations General Assembly. Commissioner Tumusiime had earlier expressed her willingness to attend this historic occasion, especially as it is one of the activities lined up for the Africa Year of Agriculture and Food Security. However, it could not work out due to competing priorities.
Excellencies, Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Iwish to underscore the rise of Africa’s quest for a common agricultural transformation and food security agenda as well as the expressed willingness for evidence to inform this agenda. In 2002 the thinking to transform Africa’s agriculture emerged in the wake of the new Millennium and crystallised at the twenty-second Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Africa that noted that “African agriculture faces a major crisis, with large numbers of people facing foodshortages, net dependency on imports and food aid, and frequent disasters requiring emergency food and agriculture interventions”. It is in this view that the idea of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Programme (CAADP) was hatched. CAADP was adopted by the AU Heads of State and Government who endorsed the “Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security in Africa” on 12 July 2003 Maputo, Mozambique. This Declaration started by the African Leaders expressing their concern with, and I quote “that 30 percent of the population of Africa is chronically and severelyundernourished; that the Continent has become a net importer of food; and that it is currentlythe largest recipient of food aid in the world”, end of quote.Further, let me cap it up by quoting a statement made by His Excellency Olusegun Obasanjo, the Former President of Nigeria and Chairman of the NEPAD Implementation Committee, who said it the Preface to the CAADP Framework, “After nearly forty years of economic stagnation, withthe current food crises in the Horn of Africa, Southern Africa, and in Central Africa, African leaders areapplying themselves to finding sustainable solutions to hunger and poverty”. He further stated, “Improving agricultural performance is at the heart of improved economic development and growth”.
CAADP then went into gear in the last ten years resulting in 40 countries to-date signing their CAADP Compacts, after a rigorous process of political buy-in, stocktaking of its opportunities challenges, resources, institutional capacities and identifying priorities for investment in an Agriculture-led agenda. In noting the momentum that has picked up with AU Member States implementing CAADP rising from one in 2007, to 13 in 2009 to 21 in 2010, the notion of sustaining the momentum arose, especially so that the phenomenon known as ‘inertia’ is avoided.
This Year 2014 marks the 10th Anniversary of CAADP and combines as the Year of Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, as declared by the AU Heads of State and Government. The June 2014 Ordinary Session of the AU Summit, endorsed the Malabo Declaration on Africa Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation (3ATG). Included in the Malabo 2014 Declaration on 3ATG, are the recommendations of the 10th CAADP Partnership Platform on M&E, Data and Statistics.
Excellencies, Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is in the view that the Malabo Declaration placed the need for generating evidence at the heart of formulation and implementation of the CAADP Results Framework 2013-2023. The Results Framework counts of investing in information systems, infrastructure and use of information for improving mutual accountability and decision making. Therefore, this Conference on Information for Meeting Africa’s Agriculture Transformation Agenda would not have come at a better time.
The African Union Commission is glad to have envisioned this Conference jointly with the EU-JRC and WFP which has culminated in the event we are about to convene today and in the next two days. I am glad to note that this Conference is participated by experts in information management and systems from within the continent and other parts of the world, to share experiences, brainstorm on opportunities and agree on where to go from here. I have full confidence that this Conference will produce the desired fruits, leading to making the transformation, hunger eradication and nutrition vision an easy task for all stakeholders. The expectations of the Commission and its Partners as you can see in the concept note of the Conferenceare not farfetched. I believe that at the end of the day will, together, crystallise our dialogue and discussions into what will benefit the continent as enshrined in renewed Africa’s agriculture-led economic growth and food security Vision.
Thank you for accepting to be part of forward thinking.

Commemorating IFDC’s 40th Anniversary
Nutrients' Role in Food Security
September 29, 2014
JW Marriott
1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC

H.E. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace’s Remarks on “Moving Forward”

1:15 pm Moving Forward Discussion – Moderator – Dr. Rudy Rabbinge, University Professor Emeritus, University of Wageningen (Chair, VFRC Board of Advisors)
• Mr. Satish Chander, Director General, FAI (Member, VFRC Board
of Advisors)
• Mrs. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner for Rural
Economy and Agriculture, African Union Commission (IFDC
Board Member)
• Dr. Fusuo Zhang, College of Resources and Environmental
Sciences, China Agricultural University (Member, VFRC Board
of Advisors)
• Robert Bertram, Chief Scientist, Bureau of Food Security,
USAID

Good afternoon, distinguished participants and fellow panelists. It is an immense privilege to have an opportunity to contribute to the discussions on moving IFDC forward. I take this moment to congratulate IFDC, particularly Peter McPherson and Dr. Amit Roy on the critical role that they have played in making part of the 40 years of IFDC that we are celebrating today, a big success. As we all know, this has not been easy and took a lot of work.

IFDC celebrates its 40 years at an opportune time for Africa. The African Union is celebrating its 50 years of existence. Our Heads of State have declared 2014 as the year of agriculture and food security. We are also celebrating the 10 years of CAADP, the comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme, and have worked to develop strategies for sustaining the CAADP momentum over the next 10 years.

As we stand in a defining moment to change the face of agriculture in Africa and ensure that no child goes to bed hungry in this continent, IFDC has a unique role to play. When one looks at the overall growth trends in Africa, we note that Africa’s real GDP has been growing at a higher rate than that of developing countries. But this growth has failed to translate into substantial progress in achieving the continent’s social development goals because it hasn’t turned into solid employment creation. Given that the majority of the poor and malnourished live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, it is important to address Africa’s soil fertility challenge and put the continent on a resilient path of sustainable agricultural growth.

For IFDC to do its part in the coming years, there are some key drivers of change that IFDC needs to capitalize on:
- Growth in population and changes in the population dynamics
- Urbanization
- The increasing demand for food and higher value food products
- Increasing demand for livestock and poultry products as well as fish and fish products, horticultural goods (fruits and vegetables)
- Increasing young population
- Feminization of agriculture
- Increase in per capita income
- Increasing cost of energy
- Changes in the policy environment
- Global health threats, such as Ebola
- Global security threats, such as the rise of extremism
- The prioritization of agriculture in the development agenda
- The adoption of the Abuja Declaration on Fertilizer in 2006
- Increased pressure for political accountability and good governance
- Increased emphasis on the private sector and growth in the ICT sector.
- The concept of RESILIENCE and inclusive and sustainable growth.

What are the implications of these external factors for IFDC’s growth strategy for the coming years? I see the need for greater emphasis on 4 strategic areas for IFDC.

The first area of emphasis is CAADP – CAADP is the framework for agricultural development in Africa. From 2013-2020, we have developed a CAADP Results-based Framework, which calls for increase focus of all development efforts on results and impacts. In the coming years, IFDC needs to align its strategies for Africa and development efforts in Africa with the strategies and processes generated by CAADP. This means closer collaboration with the AUC and NPCA, which is within our reach because there is an MOU between the AUC and IFDC. This MOU can serve as an instrument for closer collaboration. IFDC needs to be an active partner in the CAADP process and this should be easy because IFDC’s expertise fall within all 4 pillars of CAADP: land and water management; market access; food supply and hunger; and agricultural research.

The second area of emphasis should be the private sector –the private sector is an important partner in agricultural development. IFDC should strive for more partnerships with the private sector to mobilize investments in fertilizer production, blending, distribution, and marketing. Institutions such as AFAP – the Africa Fertilizer Agribusiness Partnership, are key partners in that endeavour.

The third area of emphasis is markets and trade –IFDC’s efforts should place greater emphasis on the entire food system to improve the competitiveness of African agriculture in regional and global markets. We should strive to improve access to inputs by addressing market inefficiencies in input and output markets. This calls for a value chain approach in market development such as the CASE approach (competitive agricultural systems enterprise approach) for emphasis on building/strengthening the capacity of actors in the value chain, the linkages between the actors, as well as the environment within which these actors operate.

The last area of emphasis I see is production/productivity/natural resource management/Resilience -- IFDC’s priorities in Africa should remain focused on establishing a productive agricultural supply base. IFDC’s objective of doubling staple yields in Africa should remain but for that to happen, we need to develop and disseminate technologies that consider the heterogeneity of farmers and farming conditions, the diverse agro-ecological conditions, the different technological needs of farmers as well as reducing production costs. How can IFDC develop programs or projects that improve the agricultural resource base by addressing the specific needs of a diverse group of farmers? I think, we will need to start with research that is demand driven and based on evidence generated from farm and off farm research. To be able to do this kind of research, we must allocate more funds and staff to research, look for creative ways to mobilize research funds, use the field data to provide timely policy advice.

In conclusion, I see a bright future for IFDC in the coming years because IFDC’s core areas of competencies are requisites for inclusive growth and development. IFDC can capitalize on the need for its knowledge and expertise by becoming more result and impact oriented and through better management of IFDC’s knowledge and expertise.

Thank you very much.

Keynote Address by H.E. Mrs. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace
Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture
African Union Commission at the CGIAR Development Dialogues

Faculty House, Columbia University
New York, USA
25 September 2014

Our Host, Distinguished CEO of the CGIAR Consortium, Dr. Frank Rijsberman,
Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nigeria, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina,
Honourable Mr. Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Minister for the Environment, Peru, and UNFCCC COP-20 President,
Distinguished President of IFAD, Dr. Kanayo Nwanze,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased and honored to have the opportunity to address you at this Development Dialogue on "Delivering Solutions to Realize the Sustainable Development Goals and Global Climate Agenda." I wish to commend the CGIAR for organizing this important event and thank you for inviting, through me, the African Union Commission to it.

Indeed, this Dialogue gives me an opportunity to share with you the African Union's vision of the agriculture future we want and what this implies for the agricultural research and development agenda and partnerships. This vision is crafted as an integral part of the bigger Agenda 2063 Vision of The Africa We Want. It is reflected in the theme of the AU 2014 Year of Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, which is "Transforming Africa's agriculture for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods through capturing opportunities for inclusive growth and sustainable development."

Four defining features of the AU's vision for agriculture clearly help set the research priorities for Africa's agricultural transformation agenda, to which AU Heads of State and Government committed in their Malabo Summit Declaration of June 2014.

First, it is a future of a modern and productive agriculture anchored in a solid science and knowledge foundation.

Second, this future is one of competitive food and agriculture systems, which run through all dimensions of value chains to meet the fast-growing and diversifying agrifood demands of intra-African markets and increasingly supply a growing and exigent global market.

Third, the agriculture future we want would end hunger and ensure food and nutrition security on a self-reliance basis.

Fourth, the future we want is one of resilient production and livelihoods systems.

Attached to this vision are key targets that agricultural research and development should contribute to meet over the next 10 years, that is by 2025. These include, among others:

• At least doubling current agricultural productivity levels, modernizing agricultural production systems, with special attention to smallholders and women, and making agriculture attractive and profitable for the continent's youth;

• Halving the current levels of post-harvest losses;

• Developing strategic agrifood commodities value chains in a way that strongly links farmers, especially smallholders and women, to markets;

• Facilitating preferential entry and participation for women and youth in gainful and attractive agribusiness opportunities and creating job opportunities for at least 30% of the youth in agricultural value chains;

• Tripling intra-African agrifood trade;

• Ending hunger and eliminating child under-nutrition by curbing stunting to 10% and underweight to 5%; and

• Making at least 30% of Africa's farm, pastoral and fisher households resilient to climate change and weather-related risks.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

These are strong points for a demand-driven agricultural research and development agenda aimed at transforming Africa's agriculture through sustaining the momentum of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). Africa's agricultural science community is fully committed to this agenda through the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa (S3A) that our leaders adopted through the Malabo Declaration. A Science Agenda that was developed under the leadership of FARA, in close collaboration with the AUC and NPCA, and with the support of the CGIAR, IFAD and other partner institutions to which we are grateful.

Cutting across entire value chains of the agrifood systems, this science agenda encompasses research themes that connect science with the needs and opportunities in Africa's agriculture. It thus addresses critical issues of productivity and sustainable intensification of production systems, biodiversity and natural resource management, food systems and value chains, market access and trade, adaptation and resilience to climate variability and change, and harnessing modern genetics and genomics, biosciences, and ICTs.

In taking Africa's agricultural transformation agenda forward, we commit to enhancing the capacities of our institutions across the continent to deliver on the related science and transform research findings and innovations into applicable models and tools for African farmers, especially smallholders and women. As Dr. Norman Borlaug used to say, we need to ‘take it to the farmer.’ And, beyond the farmer, we need to take research to the Africa's agro-industry and agribusiness actors.

To do so, we need to build the capacity African rural communities and empower them. We shall attach special attention to investing in women who are at the core of the continent's agrifood systems. We should bridge the gaps between research and policy making. And we shall strive to build an effective education-research-extension 'knowledge triangle' through adequate reforms and support to our educational institutions as well so as to build a critical mass of professionals to advance the science agenda for agricultural transformation.

For sure, this agenda is challenging. But it is commensurate with our ambitions for agricultural transformation in Africa. We are committed to delivering on Africa's ownership and leadership of this agenda. At the same time, we are mindful of the critical value of, and need for partnerships in agricultural research and development. We, therefore, call on the international/global agricultural science community in general, and the CGIAR in particular, to strongly partner with Africa's national, regional and continental agricultural research systems in delivering on our agricultural transformation. I know we can count on your dedicated support.

Thank you.