Africa urged to promote investment in agric value chain

Africa Union member states governments has been tasked on institutionalizing public-private partnerships that promote innovative investments in agricultural value chains and that easily attracts intra-African trade and overseas markets.

This was part of the recommendations from the communiqué after the 15th Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) meeting convened under the theme “Enhancing Trade and Market Access for Accelerated Agriculture Transformation”.

It is in collaboration Partnership Platform (PP) and co-organized by the government of Kenya and the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and Regional Economic Communities (RECs), in partnership with Technical and Development Partners, CAADP Non State Actors, Private Sectors, from 11th to 14thJune 2019, and hosted by the Republic of Kenya at Safari Park Hotel and Casino, Nairobi, Kenya. 

The overall goal of the 15th CAADP PP was to provide policy makers from AU member states, Pan-African organisations, development and technical partners, and other non-state actors the opportunity to reflect together, share best practices and identify strategies and policies to foster integration, enhanced market access and intra-regional trade in agricultural commodities and services in the quest for achieving economic and food security outcomes.  

The meeting urged African governments to change the narrative and factor investment, research and innovation in livestock, fisheries and their value chains so as to achieve food security and Malabo and SDG targets of ending hunger and reducing poverty.

It said livestock and fisheries contribute substantially to improved livelihoods and higher economic growth in African countries of up to 50 per cent of agricultural GDP; yet there is very limited investment in the sector.

It urge member states to establish stronger linkages between policies and pragmatic strategies for achieving agricultural, trade and industrial development, considering there is enormous need to accelerate the development of the agro-processing industry through a value-chain approach if the continent is to achieve agriculture transformation.

 It said the private sector is capable of potentially transforming agriculture by way of linking productions to markets, thereby encouraging Member States Governments to institutionalize public-private partnership that promote innovative investments in agricultural value chains and that easily attracts intra-African trade and overseas markets.

The meeting further encouraged AUC, and their stakeholders to develop strategies for making agriculture and agribusiness attractive to the youth, which can take into consideration a number of innovative approaches for creating opportunities for the youth.

This can include: Youth Idea Generators (for innovative ideas for investing in agriculture and its value chains, including use of technology in agriculture); Fund for Youth Entrepreneurs in Agribusiness; Youth in Agriculture/Agribusiness Policy Advocacy Networks (for peer-to-peer advocacy); Land plots as incentives for winning youth agricultural projects.

It also called upon African Union institutions to encourage smallholder famers to see agriculture as a business, and to mobilize different partnerships both existing and new ones to facilitate market access for smallholder famers, women and youth in strategic value chains, and establish an international board to draft and formulate issues regarding young people and women to increase their competitiveness in the context of the AfCFTA.

And urge member states to translate national policies into simplified language that can be easily understood by farmers so that such policies are appreciated and attract action and wide scale application.  

While the AU Heads of State and Government should consider pursuing the single trading currency initiative to ease trading across neighbouring countries and cushion farmer cooperatives against exchange rate losses.

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