JOINT PRESS RELEASE

Commissioner Tumusiime and CGIAR CEO discuss progress on the MoU between AUC and CGIAR

Addis Ababa, 13, July 2015 - Her Excellency Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture yesterday received the Steering Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation for an improved Agricultural Production and productivity. The meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Frank Rijsberman Chief Executive Officer of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research Consortium (CGIAR Consortium) to review and agree on priorities in implementing the AU Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Africa Agriculture Growth and Transformation as well as other areas of agricultural development within the Memorandum of Understanding between AUC and CGIAR that was signed in January 2013.
The discussions were guided by the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding, the Implementation Strategy and Roadmap for the Malabo Declaration, as well as the CGIAR’s Strategy and Results Framework.
On behalf of Commissioner Tumusiime, the Dr. Abebe Haile Gabriel Director of Rural economy and Agriculture, welcoming Dr. Rijsberman and other Members of the Steering Committee said it was time to focus on strategic areas that would yield the most practical impact and results in agricultural development particularly in Africa.
Dr. Rijsberman concurred with the Commissioner and expressed CGIAR’s wish to contribute towards rolling out the Malabo Declaration and noted that CGIAR was in the process of refocusing and aligning their CGIAR Research Programmes in Africa to support the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) implementation.
During the discussions, they agreed on how to coordinate efforts better among Agricultural Research and Development (ARD) Stakeholders in Africa towards an expedient implementation of collaborative activities, as laid out in the 2013 MoU by strengthening the working relationship between Africa ARD and CGIAR in the fields of agricultural Science, Technology and Innovations. They will as well focus more on Women, youth employment and Climate Smart Agriculture.

The meeting further agreed that both organizations’ technical teams will work together in elaborating priority areas for cooperation and partnership for 2015-2016.
The meeting was also attended by DREA Staff, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the AfricaRice, the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), the International Food Policy Institute (IFPRI) and International Livestock Research institute (ILRI).
For further information and media inquiries:
Maurice Lorka; CAADP Advisor, Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture, AUC
N’guessanp@africa-union.org

Molalet Tsedeke ; Media Center Coordinador, Directorate of Information and Communications, AUC
MolaletT@africa-union.org

Alain Vidal, Director Partnership CGIAR Consortium; A.Vidal@cgiar.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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