NEPAD CEO, Dr Mayaki has said that it is important to remember the key principles that drive responsible investment in agriculture especially in the context of CAADP implementation in the next 10 years. 

The CEO was speaking at the Leadership Council Meeting in Abuja on the margins of the Grow Africa Investment Forum held May 6 to 8. The Forum discussed how to attract investments, meet the challenges and design for the 21st Century focusing on the role of the private sector in the AU’s year of food security and nutrition. The Leadership Council is a platform set up to provide high-level strategic guidance to Grow Africa and the New Alliance for food Security and Nutrition in the context of CAADP.

Dr Mayaki highlighted four important principles which demonstrate NEPAD’s commitment and leadership in investing responsibly in Agriculture:

1. Existing rights to land and associated natural resources must be recognized and respected –as we need to act in an equitable manner.
2. Processes relating to investment in agriculture will have to be transparent, monitored, and ensure accountability by all stakeholders, within a proper business, legal, and regulatory environment. This is a way of addressing the credibility and equity challenges our businesses have been facing
3. Investors must ensure that projects respect the rule of law, reflect industry best practice, are viable economically, and result in durable shared value.
4. Investments will have to generate desirable social and distributional impacts and do not increase vulnerability; otherwise we are running the risk of adding to the plight of the community.

The CEO said the next decade of CAADP will be guided by the Results Framework, as recently adopted by the Joint Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture Meeting in Addis at the end of last month.