ICT and capacity development

What's on this page?

On this page you can find out more about CAADP's aimsand CAADP's vision. You can also find out more about our Goal and our staffing structure. Finally, we recommend that you take two minutes to review our list of frequently asked questions (FAQs), as these contain a whole range of useful information.

Overview of CAADP

In essence, CAADP is about bringing together diverse key players - at the continental, regional and national levels - to improve co-ordination, to share knowledge, successes and failures, to encourage one another, and to promote joint and separate efforts to achieve the CAADP goals.

CAADP's aims

CAADP aims to help African countries reach a higher path of economic growth through agriculture-led development.

CAADP's vision

Through NEPAD, CAADP addresses policy and capacity issues across the entire agricultural sector and African continent. CAADP is entirely African-led and African-owned and represents African leaders' collective vision for agriculture in Africa. This ambitious and comprehensive vision for agricultural reform in Africa aims for an average annual growth rate of 6 percent in agriculture by 2015.

By 2015, African leaders hope to see:

         Dynamic agricultural markets within countries and between regions in Africa;

• Farmers taking part in the market economy and enjoying good access to markets so that Africa, capitalising on its comparative and competitive advantages, becomes a net exporter of agricultural products;
• A more equitable distribution of wealth for rural populations - in terms of higher real incomes and relative wealth. Rural populations will have more equitable access to land, physical and financial resources, and knowledge, information and technology for sustainable development;
• Africa as a strategic player in agricultural science and technology, meeting the growing needs and demands of African agriculture; and
• Environmentally sound agricultural production and a culture of sustainable management of natural resources as a result of better knowledge, more information and the application of technology.  

CAADP's goal

Overall, CAADP's goal is to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agriculture. To do this, African governments have agreed to increase public investment in agriculture by a minimum of 10 per cent of their national budgets and to raise agricultural productivity by at least 6 per cent.

Staffing structure

The NEPAD Secretariat coordinates CAADP. The following CAADP organogram shows the staffing structure within the Secreteriat. View CAADP Agriculture Unit Organogram.

To contact staff within CAADP, please go to our Contact page.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

1. What does 'CAADP' stand for? 

CAADP stands for the “Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme”.

2. What is CAADP?

CAADP is the agricultural programme of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), which in turn is a programme of the African Union (AU). Established by the AU assembly in 2003, CAADP focuses on improving food security, nutrition, and increasing incomes in Africa's largely farming based economies. It aims to do this by raising agricultural productivity by at least 6% per year and increasing public investment in agriculture to 10% of national budgets per year. 

3. What is CAADP’s relationship to AU-NEPAD?  

NEPAD is an implementing agency of the African Union and is responsible for driving economic integration in Africa. CAADP is a programme within NEPAD that is working to improve agriculture with a view to boosting economic development. For more information on the AU go to: www.african-union.org. For more on NEPAD go to: www.nepad.org.  

4. What are the CAADP Pillars?

The CAADP Pillars are CAADP’s four key focus areas for agricultural improvement and investment. Each pillar is headed by a different pillar leader. These four key pillars ‘Sustainable Land and Water Management’; ‘Market Access’; ‘Food Supply and Hunger’; and ‘Agricultural Research’. Each pillar oversees various programmes working to achieve CAADP’s goals. You can find out more about each pillar through the links on the top left-hand side of this page.