No more dillydallying: Non-State Actors call for firm commitment from African governments on Malabo Declaration

15/09/2015

 Addis Ababa:

It’s high time African government walked their talks by firmly  committing to implementation of   CAADP and Malabo Declaration.

A coalition of non state actors  has said failure by the  African governments to fully commit themselves to the implementation of CAADP and Malabo Declaration, would end up in unfilled promises for the African farmers, who depend on agriculture for livelihood.

The Non State actors Coalition monitoring the implementation of the CAADP processes and Malabo Declaration issued the statement during the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) 2015 Annual Conference.

The conference was  organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC) and NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency took place at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 1-3 September 2015.

ESAFF attended the conference as part of the CAADP Non State Actors Coalition (CNC). CNC is the Pan African non state actors comprising of CSOs, Private Sector working to influence and advocate for the fully implementation of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP)

“The coalition castigated the non-commitment by governments during the ten year implementation of the Maputo Declaration of ensuring that 10% budget was allocated to agriculture,” said Mr Richard Mambeva, the ESAFF Advocacy Officer.

Burundi and Rwanda surpassed the threshold but many other had a downward trend. At the same time budget’s passed by parliament did not realized 100% actual disbursement.

The Addis conference was about reviewing progress in supporting evidence-based policy planning and implementation under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). Conference delegates also discussed findings of the 2014 Africa wide Annual Trends and Outlook Report which tracks progress against key CAADP indicators and takes a comprehensive look at how agricultural trade can enhance resilience of the poor and vulnerable. Progress in advancing country Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support Systems and mutual accountability through comprehensive agriculture joint sector reviews was also assessed. The theme of the conference was “Beyond a Middle Income Africa: Ensuring Sustained Growth with Rising Employment and Incomes.”