{"id":1025,"date":"2017-03-28T19:12:16","date_gmt":"2017-03-28T19:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esaff.org\/?p=1025"},"modified":"2017-03-28T19:12:16","modified_gmt":"2017-03-28T19:12:16","slug":"farmers-to-sadc-heads-of-state-to-end-cycle-of-hunger-for-good-here-is-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esaff.org\/index-php\/farmers-to-sadc-heads-of-state-to-end-cycle-of-hunger-for-good-here-is-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmers to SADC Heads of State: to end cycle of hunger for good, here is the way"},"content":{"rendered":"

17\/08\/2016<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Farmers <\/strong>to SADC Heads of State: to end cycle of\u00a0 hunger for good, here is the way<\/strong><\/p>\n

By ESAFF Correspondent<\/p>\n

Is it possible to end they cycle of hunger in Southern African Development Community(SADC) and it\u2019s Member States?<\/p>\n

A broad based civil society coalition in a letter to the Heads of State in the region believe that a road map has already been drown, and what is needed at the moment is the political will from the top.<\/p>\n

According to the coalition to end the cycle of hunger and offer food security assurance for the long term, implementation of\u00a0 the approved Regional Agricultural Investment Plan (RAIP) is an urgent necessity.<\/p>\n

\"3<\/a><\/p>\n

While the document has been approved by SADC agriculture ministers the Southern Africa Food and Climate Justice Coalition wants the 36th SADC Heads of State Summit to seize the moment and build on the ground work made.<\/p>\n

The civil society wants the Heads of State to ensure urgent implementation of the plan which would make a\u00a0 resilient and food-secure Southern Africa for the long haul\u00a0 a reality.<\/p>\n

The coalition wants RAIP implementation to be done in a way that will\u00a0\u00a0 ensure investments respond to the needs of smallholder farmers especially women and youth.<\/p>\n

The coalition made up of small scale farmers, churches, rural women and \u00a0mediaorganisations in Southern Africa, noted the current drought cycle has become recurrent:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current drought \u2013 although particularly severe \u2013 is not a one-off. As climate change takes grip, the cyclical El Nino phenomenon is becoming more frequent and more intense \u2013 affecting our same communities in Southern Africa again and again,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

While acknowledging high-level political leadership in responding to the drought and the food crisis which culminated in to a regional declaration of emergency and subsequent appeal to close the funding gap in Southern Africa, the coalition called for improved dealing with \u201cclimate induced disasters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that early action prevents suffering, is significantly more cost effective, and prevents reversals in development gains,\u201d they noted.<\/p>\n

The civil society said long term solution to the crisis needs building of the resilience of small-scale agriculture.\u201cThe region will continue to be badly hit by these crises, unless governments are serious about investing in smallholder agriculture, and respecting the Malabo Declaration,\u201d the Heads of State were told.<\/p>\n

The coalition called on stakeholders to be involved in drafting the rules and regulations for operationalization of the investment plan.\u00a0 They also called on timelines to be set for nation to allocate 10% of national budgets to agriculture as stipulated in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).<\/p>\n

The letter was signed by Southern African Development CommunityCouncil of Non-Governmental Organisations, Eastern and Southern Africa Small\u00a0 Scale\u00a0 Farmer\u2019s Forum,<\/p>\n

Rural Women\u2019s Assembly, OXFAM, Fellowship of Christian Churches\u00a0 in Southern Africa (EJN of FOCCISA)<\/p>\n

Specific actions civil society wants SADC to take<\/strong><\/p>\n