African Union Extraordinary Summit on Post-Malabo CAADP Agenda

Media Lauch Event

December 19, 2024 | Kampala, Uganda

Talking Points for

H.E. Amb. Josefa Sacko

Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment

• Hon. Jeje Odongo, Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Hon. Frank Tumwebaze, Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries; and Chair of the AU Specialized Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment
• Hon. Chris Baryomunsi, Minister of Information, Communication and Technology and National Guidance
• Honorable Ministers Present
• Excellences Ambassadors Present
• Representatives of Development Partners
• Members of Parliament
• Members of the Media
• Ladies and Gentlemen
• All Protocol Observed

• I bring you greetings from H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of the Africa Union Commission. Let me start by thanking the Government of the Republic of Uganda for offering to host the African Union Extraordinary Summit on the post-Malabo CAADP Agenda that will take place on January 9-11, 2025 at the beautiful Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort in Kampala, Uganda. It is a befitting venue for such an important Summit.
• The Summit is a pivotal moment for Africa, marking the adoption of a new 10-year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan: 2026-2035, as well as the Kampala CAADP Declaration. Uganda should feel proud because for the next 10 years, the world will be referring to the Kampala CAADP declaration, replacing the Malabo CAADP declaration. On this note, I want to thank Hon. Frank Tumwebaze, the Chair of the AU Specialized Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment for his leadership and support in the development of the post-Mabalo CAADP agenda. Thank you, my bother for your support and cooperation.
• I wish to acknowledge the support of technical and development partners that provided the expertise and financial resources that facilitated the various activities that led to the formulation of the 10-year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan. The partners are too many to thank individually. Without their support, it would have been difficult for the African Union to deliver with the short time we had.
• The Summit is exactly 3 weeks from today. I am happy to state that the African Union Commission is ready. The Summit is happening and I am very excited. I want to thank Uganda’s National Organizing Committee, under the able leadership of Major General David Kasura Kyomukama, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries. My team has worked very closely with his team to make sure all preparations are going well. We appreciate the collaboration and cooperation between the African Union Commission and Uganda’s National Organizing Committee. In particular, I want to thank, Dr. Godfrey Bahiigwa, African Union’s Director of Agriculture and Rural Development, who happens to be Ugandan, for his unwavering dedication in the preparations of the technical documents and the Summit.

Excellences, Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen

Allow me to provide you with some brief details.

• In February 2024, the African Union Commission presented the 4^th CAADP biennial review report to African Heads of State and Government during the 37^th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly. They noted with concern that no single country was on track to meet the Malabo CAADP goals and targets by 2025. As such, they directed the African Union Commission and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), working with partners, to develop a post-Malabo CAADP agenda that would respond to the challenges and opportunities facing Africa’s agrifood systems.

• In response to the directive of the Heads of State and Government, the Africa Union has led the development of a new 10-year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan: 2026-2035 whose vision is to build resilient and sustainable agrifood systems for a healthy and prosperous Africa, in line with the aspirations of Agenda 2063. Under the leadership of Hon. Frank Tumwebaze, the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan and the draft Kampala CAADP Declaration were endorsed by African Ministers responsible for Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment during their extraordinary session of the Specialized Technical Committee that was held on October 25, 2024, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Overall, the 10-year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan aims to boost food production, expand value addition, boost intra-Africa trade, create millions of jobs for our youth and women, build inclusive agrifood value chains, and build resilient and sustainable agrifood systems that will withstand shocks and stressors now and in the future.

The specific objectives of the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan are to:

1. Intensify sustainable food production, agro-industrialization, and trade
2. Boost investment and financing by both public and private sectors in transforming agrifood systems
3. Ensure food and nutrition security across the continent
4. Advance inclusivity and equitable livelihoods, focusing on youth, women and marginalized groups
5. Build resilient agrifood systems that can withstand and adapt to various shocks and stressors, including climate change
6. Strengthen agrifood systems governance to improve the quality of implementation at national and regional levels.

• Before I end my remarks, I would like to invite all of you, through the Government of Uganda, to the Summit on January 9-11, 2025, in Kampala Uganda. The summit is jointly organized by the African Union and the Republic of Uganda. During the Summit, African Union Heads of State and Government will consider and adopt the draft CAADP Strategy and Action Plan: 2026-2035 and the draft Kampala CAADP Declaration. The summit will make landmark decisions that will shape Africa’s agrifood systems transformation for the next decade.
• After the two documents are adopted, the next step will be implementation. As such, I would like to call on all African Union Member States to quickly domesticate the Kampala CAADP Declaration into national agrifood systems investment plans and mobilize adequate technical and financial resources for their implementation. It only through domestication and effective implementation that the goals and targets in the declaration will be achieved by 2035.
• Let me end by thanking the Government of the Republic of Uganda for organizing this media event to inform the public about this landmark Kampala CAADP Summit next month. I look forward to seeing all of you during the Summit three weeks from now.

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Thank you. Obrigado. Merci. Gracias. Shukran. Asante sana.