Events

Press Release Nº003/2014
AUC and Meridian Institute sign MoU on renewal of Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa

Addis Ababa, 14 January 2014 – The African Union Commission and Meridian Institute, USA, have renewed the Memorandum of Understanding that was originally signed by both parties in September 2012 on the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA). The signing ceremony held on 14 January 2014, at the AU Commission did not only mark the renewal of the MoU but also the signing of a grant agreement to the tune of US$ 1.2 million between the two parties to support PACA secretariat operational and programmatic activities of 2014.

The MoU and grant agreement were signed by the Commissioner for t Rural Economy and Agriculture, Mrs. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, on behalf of the AUC and senior partner of the Meridian Institute, Mrs. Barbara Stinson.

Mrs. Tumusiime appreciated and recognized the active and proactive partnership that the Commission has enjoyed with Meridian for the past sixteen months. She indicated that: “the new phase of the partnership should serve as a launching pad for a more fruitful collaboration that would build on the successes and lessons learned from implementation of the previous MoU.”

The Commissioner emphasized the importance of having this programme, in light of the problems aflatoxins are causing on the continent such as undermining regional integration and coordination. PACA will be contributing to the overall strategy of transforming the African agriculture, achieving food sovereignty and nutrition security.

Although PACA’s progress to date is very impressive, Mrs. Tumusiime highlighted, it is important to stay cognizant of the fact that work has only began and further action and persistence is required in order to effectively address the challenges of aflatoxins in Africa (the Commissioner’s speech is available on www.au.int ).

Aflatoxins are naturally occurring highly toxic compounds produced by fungi. Long-term exposure to these toxins is believed to cause liver cancer and is also associated with immune suppression, growth retardation, liver disease, and death in both humans and domestic animals.

During the signing ceremony, Mrs. Stinson expressed the significance of this renewal as well as the signing of the grant agreement. She expressed her sincere gratitude and appreciation to the AUC for providing much needed leadership for PACA.

The African Union Commission reiterated its commitment to tackle the aflatoxin problem through the PACA initiative and registered its commitment to work closely with all PACA partners in order to implement its 10 year strategy and achieve its vision of “an Africa free from the harmful effects of aflatoxins”.

Media contact:
Mr. Molalet Tsedeke, Directorate of Information and Communication, AUC; molalett@africa-union.org; +251-911-630-631

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

Africa’s Great Green Wall Reaches out to New Partners

More partnerships and investment are needed to support the pan-African partnership to tackle desertification and land degradation

Rome, 16 December 2013 – The Great Green Wall initiative is hosting an international forum to build new partnerships and accelerate progress in tackling one of this century’s defining development challenges – land degradation, desertification and drought.

The forum will also take stock of the achievements and future challenges of the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative.

The two-day event, organized by the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD (GM) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) under the auspices of the African Union Commission (AUC), is taking place on 16-17 December at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Since its adoption in 2007 by African Heads of State and Government, the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative has become Africa’s flagship initiative in tackling the detrimental social, economic and environmental impact of land degradation, desertification, drought and climate change.

It is estimated that 83 per cent of rural people in Sub-Saharan Africa depend on the land for their livelihoods, but 40 per cent of Africa’s land resources are currently degraded. Poverty, hunger, unemployment, forced migration, conflict and security issues are just some of the many threats arising from this situation.

In the Sahel, seasonal temperatures have risen between 1.5-2.0 degrees Celsius, making land and the local populations all the more vulnerable to weather events that have become more and more unpredictable and severe.

Bold coordinated action and more investments in sustainable land management are needed to boost food production, help people adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects, support biodiversity, enhance businesses based on land resources and contribute to a green economy.

Action on the ground
A mosaic of natural resource management programmes underway in some of the countries, demonstrate the potential of sustainable land management to boost food security, improve community livelihoods and build the resilience of the land and the people to the changing climate.

In southern Niger, for instance, farmers have rehabilitated over 5 million hectares of land, using a low cost land restoration technique called farmer-managed natural regeneration. This has boosted crop and livestock yields, as well the production of medicine and firewood.

In Senegal, 27 000 hectares of degraded land were restored by the planting of 11 million trees. Part of this re-greened area is being converted into a community-based reserve for eco-tourism.

A mechanized technology, known as the Vallerani-system inspired from traditional practices has helped to restore more than 50 000 hectares of agro-forestry systems in Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal. It is seeding native trees, shrubs and herbs, boosting the production of crops, gums and resins, and providing fodder for livestock.

Breaking the cycle
“The time has come to break the vicious cycle of crises in Africa's Sahel by building up the ability of rural communities to weather drought and other shocks, rather than merely helping them recover from disaster,” said Maria-Helena Semedo, FAO’s Deputy Director-General, at the opening of the event.

"The Great Green Wall initiative is an opportunity to bring a coordinated and harmonized response to the issues of forced migration, food security and peace in Africa", Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), said to the representatives of African countries, international organizations, development banks, civil society and the private sector.

With less than three per cent of Sub-Saharan Africa’s total cropland currently benefiting from sustainable land and water management, she warned that a major effort would be required to build the resilience of people in the region and the natural systems on which they so intimately depend.

EU Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, added: “I am pleased to support the Green Wall initiative – it is very much in line with the EU’s own commitment to doing all we can to help people in those countries most affected by climate change to be able to better adapt to its impact in the future, as well as improving food security and making agriculture more sustainable.”

Expanding partnership
“Partnerships are crucial to support governments in mobilizing the necessary technical and financial resources for the implementation of their Great Green Wall plans,” said Dr. Abebe Haile Gabriel, Director for Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union Commission.

New partnerships are needed to strengthen the global alliance that has emerged under the leadership of the African Union, he added, stressing the need for streamlined coordination among partners and the importance of close monitoring and evaluation of the impact of their actions.

So far, the African Union – in cooperation with the European Union, FAO, the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD, the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew and the Walloon Region of Belgium – has mobilized more than €50 million in support of the Great Green Wall Initiative.

The World Bank and Global Environment Facility are financing the US$1 billion Sahel and West Africa Program (SAWAP), active in 12 countries together with a regional hub project called Building Resilience through Innovation, Communication, and Knowledge Services (BRICKS), implemented by the Permanent Interstates Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Contact:
African Union Commission
Molalet Tsedeke
Directorate of Information and Communication
(+ 251) 911 630631; (+34) 34 2521 2732
MolaletT@africa-union.org; www.au.int
FAO
Maarten Roest
Media Relations (Rome)
(+39) 06 570 56524
(+ 39) 347 810 51 60
maarten.roest@fao.org

Global Mechanism of the UNCCD
Maurizio Navarra
Communications Officer
m.navarra@global‐mechanism.org

The Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture’s staff started with a review of the Department’s Strategic and Operational Plans in Entebbe Uganda, 2 December 2013

HE Mrs Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Dr Abebe haile Gabriel, Director of DREA and Mr Mandla Madonsela, Director for Strategic Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, International Cooperation and Resource Mobilization, members of staff of DREA from three divisions (Agriculture and Food Security, Environment and Natural Resources, and Rural economy), technical offices (Inter African Bureau for Animal Resources (IBAR), Pan African Vaccine Centre (PANVAC), Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC), Semi-Arid Food Grains Research and Development (SAFGRAD), Interafrican Phytosanitary Counsel (IAPSC) Special programmes; the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA), among others are participating in a two-days (2 – 3 December 2013) DREA retreat to review and finalize the Department’s strategic and Operational Plans 2014 – 2017 in Entebbe, Uganda prior to the meeting with partners and stakeholders on the same to be held 4 – 5 December 2013. Du ring the retreat the participants will discuss the latest version of the Strategic and Operational plans, refine the mains sections ( i.e.: Animal resources, Environment and Natural resources as well as Food security and Rural Economy) of the documents and kick start the preparation of the 2014, Year of Agriculture and Food Security’s activities.
In her opening statement, below, HE Mrs Tumusiime Rhoda Peace thanked the participants to the retreat for their cooperation and contribution.

HIGH LEVEL MEETING SEEKS A WAY FORWARD IN AFRICAN AGRICULTURE MEETING BEING HELD AHEAD OF AU SUMMIT ON AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY

Addis Ababa, 25 November 2013- A two day high level meeting on Harnessing Innovation for African Agriculture and Food Systems is being held at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the theme “Meeting the challenges and designing for the 21st century”. The main objective of the meeting is to discuss recent models of success in African agricultural development and chart opportunities and challenges on the path ahead.

Involving more than 40 senior officials including Ministers of Agriculture from the African Union member states, business people, farmers and academics, the meeting is being co- hosted by AU Commission Chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and former UN Secretary General and Head of the Kofi Anan Foundation, Mr Kofi Anan.

Dr Dlamini Zuma emphasised the need to pay attention to whole production and supply chain in order to have a food secure Africa. She also stressed the need for Africa to mainstream women and youth in all agricultural and agro business activities, ensuring they have access to skills development programmes, funding and inputs.

Mr Anan expounded on his vision for the continent saying it goes beyond having enough food to eat, but that Africa should become a major exporter of food.

Among others, the meeting aims to identify opportunities and build upon the strengths of African institutions including the AUC and NEPAD agency, as leaders of change and in the implementation of CAADP framework and other actions to strengthen national and regional food systems; Engage African agricultural leaders and experts in a focused discussion about their expectations for the Year of Agriculture and into the 21st century; elevate the voices of Africans, from the small holder farmer to Heads of State, to advocate for an improved framework for country level agricultural development, planning and implementation; further equip these voices to better articulate their priorities to promote alignment among donors, the private sector, G8/G20, millennium development goals and other global mechanisms and discuss ways to catalyse action by governments to implement agricultural development commitments, develop and scale up innovative mechanisms for progress as well as explore emerging challenges including demographic shifts, population growth, climate change and evolving dietary preferences.

The meeting’s outcomes will be useful to the January 2014 summit of the African Union whose theme will be “2014- Year of Agriculture and Food Security”.

For further information contact
Mrs Wynne Musabayana I Deputy Head of Communication and Information | African Union Commission I E-mail: MusabayanaW@africa-union.org | Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
AU Web site: www.au.int

President Kikwete at COP 19: The situation is tough and challenging

Warsaw, Poland- 21 November 2013 – “It is not easy, it is tough and challenging, but we are tough enough to be able to succeed, said President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, the president of the United Republic of Tanzania, in his address to the African Group of Ministers and Negotiators at the ongoing Global Climate Change Negotiation (COP19) meeting, held on Thursday, 21 November 2013, in Warsaw, Poland.

Speaking, in his capacity as the Coordinator of the Committee of African Heads of State and Governments on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), President Kikwete, stressed that the situation is so bad in terms of climate change, calling the national and international communities for urgent actions. He expressed his satisfaction regarding the African position. We speak with one voice; we should remain with one voice, said president Kikwete.

The current coordinator thanked AMCEN and the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) for the front line role in the negotiation and encouraged them to maintain unity of purpose and continue to speak with one voice around the African common position. President Kikwete also said that this approach would enable Africa to overcome difficulties in the negotiation towards the future we want.

He had an interactive discussion during the meeting with the African ministers who commended his able leadership and reaffirmed their commitment to championing Africa’s interest at COP19.

Speaking at the meeting, Commissioner Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, AU Commissioner for Rural Development and Agriculture reiterated the full commitment of the African Union Commission, which remains at the service of the AU Member States. It is gratifying that the African leadership has placed issues of the climate change high on the political agenda, said Commissioner Rhoda. The AU Member States are taking country level action to deal with climate change issues while remaining engaged in global climate change negotiations, she added.

During the meeting Dr. Terezya L. Huvisa, Tanzanian Minister of State for Environment, and current President of African Ministerial Conference on the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) has handover Africa’s Adaptation Gap Technical Report to President Kikwete. The report is a stark analysis of where Africa Stands in relation to its adaptation goals and is a cautionary indicator of what may happen should the emission gap remain necessitating additional adaptation.

For media inquiries and furthur information:
Mr. Molalet Tsedeke
Directorate of Information and Communication
AU Commission
molalett@africa-union.org; molalet24t@yahoo.com
Tel: 51 7665 081