By Jeff Kapembwa
AFRICA needs to transform the agriculture sector through various interventions to make it resilient against climate change and other global shocks that compel the continent to endure the global food crisis, the African Union has noted.
The resurging climate change has necessitated global warming, causing severe weather like flooding and drought that disrupts food production. The lack of adaptation by African countries for want for resources has caused the vast farmlands to be wiped out and destroying entire harvests on productive land and affecting harvests.
The continent’s vulnerability has given rise to hunger after people lose access to food after recurring floods or drought degrade soil making farmlands barren and causes reduction to both the amount and quality of food needed to be grown for consumption.
This development calls for stop-gaps to avert soil health degradation, according to a report by Food and Agriculture Organisation.
African Union ambassador, Josefa Sacko, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Development at the African Union Commission (AUC) warns against the increasing vulnerability against climate change.
There is an urgent call for sustained and robust interventions to support AU member states in building a resilient agricultural sector amid global food crises that compel food imports at exorbitant costs.
In her remarks in Kampala, Uganda during the just ended 3-day Validation Workshop of the Ten-Year Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) continent’s policy framework for agricultural transformation, wealth creation, food security and nutrition, economic growth and prosperity for all, Ambassador Sacko, calls for sustained and robust interventions.
The intervention is arguably to ensure agriculture is shock-proof and ensure continent’s all-year-round food security caused by avoidable factors like climate change which is human-induced.
She stressed the importance of the workshop of the 10-Year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan (2026-2035) which would hopefully culminate into the Kampala Declaration to succeed the 2014 Malabo Declaration which seeks to promote Africa’s food sufficiency as espoused 20 years ago.
After the Maputo Declaration in 2003, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has become an Agenda 2063 flagship programme and the pivotal framework for catalyzing agricultural transformation across Africa.
The 20 years of implementation of CAADP have seen an increase in Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), average incomes, agricultural output and productivity, agricultural trade, and agricultural investments as well as a significant reduction in hunger and poverty.
Key among some of the CAADP aspiration is to make agriculture sector productive and avoid food imports. Arguably, the Malabo Declarations had since inception agreed in unison for all AU countries to support the sector by setting aside 10 percent of each country’s annual budget for its development and security including in interventions against food loses and climate related challenges.
Since 2000, sub-Saharan Africa has also achieved the highest rate of agricultural growth more than any other region throughout the world, estimated at 4.3 percent. Progression has been slowed down what was anticipated spurred by immense challenges and shocks due to climate change, pandemics like COVID, and global economic disruptions.
These factors have affected the progression of the AU member states from realizing the seven Malabo commitments as shown by our Fourth Biennial Review Report.
This calls for unwavering support towards African countries in building a resilient agriculture sector on the continent to ensure sustained food production and avoid global food crisis and the Post Malabo Agenda should drive Africa to re-defining its resilience against unforeseen shocks.
“The Post Malabo Agenda presents a pivotal moment for reshaping Africa’s priorities. While building upon CAADP’s existing strengths, it will significantly adapt to tackle emerging challenges and align with global trends,” Ambassador Sacko said.
The Executive Council Forty-Fourth Ordinary Session held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 14-15 February 2024, sought an urgent need to develop a Post-Malabo Agenda that addresses sustainable food systems as was evidenced during the 2021 Food Systems Summit where Africa was the only Continent that produced a Common Position and emerging issues such as climate change.
Last month, Ambassador Sacko stressed the importance of sustainability of agriculture for economic transformation, with 70% of Africa’s population being rural and reliant on this sector. She challenged African leaders to prioritise the needs of the majority, not just a few, and ensure unrestricted access to resources like roads, light, and electricity.
The AU has made significant progress in addressing the challenges faced by the continent, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, dependence on imports, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The AU is now working on a better 10-year action plan for the Malabo Declaration, which includes eradicating hunger by 2025.
However, many countries are still far from realizing these commitments, as shown by the 4th annual review report. Additionally, the AU is working with the World Bank to mitigate the impact of droughts on the continent, particularly in the Horn of Africa.
The AU had allocated $2.7 billion for smart agriculture to address climate change impacts, Ambassador Sacko said.
Uganda’s Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries and Chairperson of the AU Specialized Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment, Frank Tumwebaze, said the impending expiry of the Malabo CAADP Strategy and Action Plan as adopted in the Malabo Declaration, the African Union Commission has helped create a widely consultative process.
This was aimed at developing a successor Strategy and Action Plan for the period 2026-2035, planned to be presented to the Extra-Ordinary Summit of the African Union to be held In Kampala in January next year, for adoption.
The implementation of CAADP has been through successive ten-year Strategies and Action Plans, with the current one having been adopted in 2014 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. Through the Biennial Reviews, where Africa has made significant strides in transforming the agricultural sector, there is still room to achieve more under the next phase of CAADP.
“Therefore, as we move to the next phase of CAADP, we should pay special attention to where we have had strengths and consolidate them, and identify where we have had gaps in terms of priorities, systems, and approaches, and plug them.” Minister Tumwebaze said
The implementation of the blueprint has been through successive ten-year Strategies and Action Plans, with the current one having been adopted in 2014 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. Through the Biennial Reviews, where Africa has made significant strides in transforming the agricultural sector, there is still room to achieve more under the next phase of CAADP.