This was said recently during 12th CAADP PP meeting convened by the African Union Commission (AUC) in collaboration with the Nepad Agency in Ghana.
Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, CEO of the Nepad Agency said: “Africa can only make it happen if we collectively innovate and agree to account for the resources injected, results and impact that ensue. Indeed, as a continent, with a community of destiny, we cannot afford to invest in our agriculture the same way we have been doing thus far.”
The meeting brought together over 400 participants. High level African leadership included former President of Ghana John Kufour, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr Agnes Kalibata, President of Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa.
Also present were Regional Economic Communities, government ministries, farmers’ organisations, private sector representatives, civil society and development partners.
Earlier in her opening remarks at the CAADP PP meeting, Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture of the AUCn said, the only way to sustainably deliver on African agricultural commitments is to mobilise the continental human and financial resources.
“We need to build strong partnerships for an accountable and efficient implementation of the CAADP agenda since investment in agriculture makes good economic sense,” she said.
Ghanaian Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture Dr Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan declared that CAADP is the most ambitious agricultural reform agenda ever undertaken on the continent, as an African-led and owned development framework, adding that innovative financing for agriculture in Africa is also critical for rural transformation.
In keeping with the theme of the meeting on Innovative Financing and Renewed Partnership to Accelerate Implementation of CAADP, Dr Mayaki reiterated that Africa must innovate because it needs to design new and fit-for-purpose instruments that are able to help deal with the emerging trends, challenges and opportunities.
“The issue of risk management is a typical example of where we need to propose innovative instruments that meet the needs of the countries. The remedies and solutions of the past may not work with the ever more complex issues of today,” Dr Mayaki said.
Concurring with the fact that farmers are at the heart of transforming the agricultural sector, Philip Kiriro, President of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation expressed satisfaction with the progress made in CAADP thus far.
Christoph Rauh, Deputy Director of BMZ, sub-Saharan Africa, stated that young people need to be involved, as agriculture needs to provide good business and employment for the youth.
“It is time we talk less and do more in order for results and impact to be achieved,” he said.
Agricultural transformation will be realised when industrialisation of the sector is finally achieved. This was the consensus from the different representatives.
The 12th CAADP PP meeting generated a number of key actionable activities to speed up implementation through financial innovation and partnerships to deliver the Malabo Declaration and the Africa Union “Agenda 2063” - a strategic framework for the socio-economic transformation of the continent over the next 50 years.
It was reported that Africa’s agriculture in the CAADP framework bearing fruit Study findings reveal that the 10 percent political target has been very useful in rallying political support (from governments and development partners) for the agriculture sector guided by the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) framework.
In the first decade of CAADP, 13 countries have surpassed the target of 10 percent budgetary allocation in any year, while 7 have surpassed it in more than one year.
Burundi, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have met or surpassed the 10 percent target in one or more years since 2003.
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