" [1]All journalists are invited to attend the opening of the 7th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform (PP) Meeting
Date for the Official Opening: 25th of March 2011
Time: 8:30am-10:40am Venue: Hilton Hotel, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
5th March 2011, Midrand/Yaounde – Agriculture is the cornerstone of the African economy and it is crucial for African governments to step up their investments and accountability in this sector if hunger, food insecurity and poverty are to be eliminated, in line with the continent’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The delegates at the 7th Partnership Platform (PP) Meeting of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which will take place from 23rd – 25th March 2010, at the Hilton Hotel, Yaoundé, Cameroon, are expected to place strong emphasis on the issue of mutual accountability in the formulation and implementation of country CAADP investment plans.
Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union (AU) Commission says that this meeting will take place at a time when international and global dialogue is currently focused on agricultural performance, food security and climate change and this meeting will provide the opportunity to discuss accountability in policy design and the ways to improve agriculture in Africa and the lives of farmers and farming communities.
“If we are going to make poverty history in Africa, we have to improve food security, nutrition and incomes in Africa’s largely agrarian economies,” says Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency). “These are the interlinked goals of CAADP through which African governments are committed to an annual increase in agricultural productivity of 6% by investing at least 10% of national budgets in agriculture.”
Established as part of the African Union’s NEPAD programme, CAADP was endorsed by the AU Assembly in July 2003. It is in this regard that the NEPAD Agency works through CAADP to raise the amount and quality of food that Africa produces, in order to make families more food-secure and exports more profitable.
The meeting will be attended by government ministers, the AU Commissioner for Agriculture, the CEO of the NEPAD Agency, Regional Economic Communities, farmers’ organisations, development partners and African Ministers of Agriculture and will provide an opportunity for peer interaction, review and experience sharing among the core institutions and partners involved in CAADP implementation.
The forum will review progress and country-level experiences in implementation since the previous meeting in April 2010 as well as various strategic issues pertaining to the acceleration of CAADP implementation and related monitoring and evaluation thereof.
“CAADP’s agenda reflects a fundamental shift in the way Africa’s leadership looks at agriculture and its potential contribution to ending poverty and hunger. The AU at country, regional and international level has placed agriculture, food and nutrition security high on the agenda and the development partners have pledged to step up their financial and technical support,” adds Tumusiime.
For more information, and to arrange for interviews, contact:
In Cameroon: + 237- 22 00 63 00 / 22 20 04 07, Email: didieramougou@yahoo.fr [2]
Millicent Seganoe, NEPAD Agency Communications, Cell: +27-83-266-1829, Email: millicents@nepad.org [3]
