Events

MEDIA ADVISORY

INVITATION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA

What: High level Roundtable on Mobilizing Finance to Support Operationalization of Africa’s Agenda on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation.

When: Wednesday 15 July, 2015, at 6:30pm

Where: African Union Commission, (Multi-Purpose Hall), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Who: Organized by the African Union Commission and NEPAD Agency, in partnership with the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

Objectives: The specific objective of this roundtable is to consult with partners on the financing agricultural transformation, more particularly geared towards operationalization of the 2014 Malabo Commitments on Agriculture, at continental, regional and country levels.

Participants: the roundtable will bring together leaders from government, private sector, development and technical partners, and Philanthropists.

Background:

It is to be recalled that the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) was adopted in 2003by the African Union (AU) as a framework to guide policies and strategies towards the attainment of food security and poverty reduction goals in Africa. The achievement of an agricultural growth rate of at least 6%, and the commitment by the AU Member States of allocation of at least ten percent of the annual national budget to agriculture constitute key aspects of CAADP. An important feature of CAADP is its emphasis on African leadership/ownership, a structured evidence-based approach and sustainable agricultural development as a key means to economic growth and poverty alleviation.

A decade of CAADP implementation realised a number of transformational successes as 40 countries have engaged and launched the CAADP process and having signed CAADP Compacts whilst 32 countries have translated their compacts into National Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plans and are at different stages of implementation. At the same time the seriousness with which agricultural growth is being pursued is intensifying across the continent and this is both manifested and encouraged by the prioritization of agriculture in Africa’s common political agenda.

It is in this regard that the AUC, the NEPAD Agency,in partnership with the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), is organising a resource mobilisation event bringing together its partners, many of whom have expressed at various fora their commitment to this cause to mobilise the required financing for operationalising the Malabo commitments.

Journalists are invited to attend and cover the event on Wednesday 15 July 2015 at 6:30pm, at the African Union Commission.

Draft Programme is attached.

For further information and media inquiries:

Mr. Maurice Lorka,

CAADP Advisor, Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture, AUC

Nguessanp@africa-union.org

Mr. Molalet Tsedeke

Media Center Coordinador, Directorate of Information and Communications, AUC

MolaletT@africa-union.org

For further information contact

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: dinfo@african-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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JOINT PRESS RELEASE

Achieving the aspirations of the 2014 Malabo Commitments on Agriculture through reasserting country ownership and leadership

Description: IMG_0761Nairobi, Kenya, June 29, 2015 – “The importance of operationalising the Malabo Declaration for transformation of African agriculture for shared prosperity cannot be overemphasised. Agriculture is the backbone of Kenya’s economy, as well as many other African countries,” says Rebecca Wahome, CAADP Focal Person for Kenya in the Ministry of Agriculture.

Ms. Wahome was speaking today at the Permanent Secretaries Leadership Retreat on operationalising the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated African Agricultural Growth and Transformation (3AGT) convened by the African Union Commission in collaboration with the NEPAD Agency. The Leadership Retreat has brought together over 100 participants - Permanent Secretaries and CAADP Focal persons of Ministries of Agriculture, Rural Development, Livestock and Aquaculture, Regional Economic Communities and Partners.

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) is an African-led agenda designed to guide Africa’s agricultural transformation for sustained food security and socio-economic growth. The 2014 Malabo Declaration is a commitment adopted by AU Heads of State and Government to provide effective leadership for the achievement of specific goals by the year 2025, including ending hunger, tripling intra-African trade in agricultural goods and services, enhancing resilience of livelihoods and production systems, and ensuring that agriculture contributes significantly to poverty reduction.

To meet these goals, African leaders re-affirmed their commitment to the CAADP process and agreed to enhance investment finance and to a biennial tracking of progress and reporting mechanism as part of the mutual accountability commitment.

In his opening remarks at the Leadership Retreat, Dr. Abebe Haile Gabriel, AUC Director for the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture empahsised the importance of country ownership and leadership in realising the goals of the Malabo committments.

Description: IMG_0744The aspirations in the Malabo Declaration underscore CAADP implementation as a national responsibility. It is therefore critical that Heads of Ministries as custodians of government policies and national development strategies and plans, including the National Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plans, fully embrace and internalise the responsibilities for driving the CAADP agenda.

Dr Abebe emphasised that making deliberate and informed actions to bring about desired changes and development is actually ‘in our hands’ and urged leaders to steer away from rhetoric on the importance of agriculture by actual demonstration of its importance through increasing investments in the sector that will help realise attainment of the goals in the Malabo committments.

Martin Bwalya, NEPAD Agency’s Head of Programme Development, speaking on behalf of the NEPAD CEO, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, stressed that Malabo Declaration has brought to the core issue of delivering RESULTS. Sustaining the CAADP momentum build up over the last ten years will only be sustained by demostrating results and actual impact of agricultural transformation on peoples’ livelihoods and national economic growth. In emphasing implementation and delivery of results, Malabo Declaration also underscores the critical role the national leadership – technical and political, have to play in driving implementation COUNTRY ACTION. The Permenent/Principal Secretaries – as custodians of Government Policy and drivers for implementation support, are critical lead players in making the COUNTRY ACTION that Malabo demands.

……… END ………

For more details and to arrange interviews

Contact:

Carol Jilombo

Africa Union Commission DREA

Email: Jilomboc@africa-union.org

Mwanja Ng’anjo

NEPAD CAADP Communications

Phone: +27 11 2563582

Email: Mwanjan@nepad.org