MEDIA ADVISORY
In the AU year of Food Security and Agriculture, African farmers and civil society organizations have come together for a Continental Conference on “Moving from Rhetoric to Action”
Journalists are invited to attend a press conference by African farmers and civil society organizations:
When: Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Where: AU New Conference Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Briefing Room 1
Time: 4pm
In July 2003, African Heads of State and Government committed in Maputo to reduce hunger and poverty by investing at least 10% of their national budgets in agriculture. African farmers and African civil societies welcomed this commitment with a lot of hope.
But, 10 years later, only 8 countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Malawi, Mali, Niger and Senegal) have kept this promise.
The African Union declared 2014 the year of Agriculture and Food Security. We take this opportunity to remind African leaders to renew their 2003 Maputo commitment and invest more in agriculture to ensure food security and improve the future of millions of African citizens.
African Ministers of Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock are meeting in Addis Ababa this week.As part of this, Non-State actors are holding a Continental Conferencein collaboration with the African Union Commission to address the desire for a people-driven, people-centred engagement in delivering improved agriculture in the next decade. What is essential, however, is to turn rhetoric into action. During the press conference, African Farmers and Non State Actors from a range of countries will present TEN KEY STEPS that make up their call for action.
For more information please contact:
Idriss Ali Nassah, Pan-Africa Media lead
Oxfam International Liaison Office with the African Union
Idriss.nassah@oxfaminternational.org
Phone: +251 93 007 9063