The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) through its Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP) this morning kickstarted a Regional Consultation on the African Union Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) 4th Biennial Review (BR) Performance of IGAD Member States to review the performance of IGAD Member States in implementing Agriculture Transformation Agenda against the Malabo declaration goals.
The CAADP Biennial Review (BR) Report was established by the African Heads of State and Government under the 2014 Malabo Declaration on accelerated agricultural growth and transformation for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods with the aim to ensure wealth creation, food security, and sustainable economic growth, thereby propelling Africa towards prosperity.
The reporting exercise is the main mutual accountability tool to track the progress of the African Union (AU) Member States in implementing the Malabo Declaration and is a powerful instrument used to trigger policy actions for agricultural transformation in Africa.
The 4th CAADP Biennial Review Report was officially launched and released on 8th March 2024 at the 37th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
According to the highlighted results and country scores presented in the Africa Agriculture Transformation Scorecard in the 4th CAADP Biennial Report, 49-member states reported, out of which, 19 African Union Member States were progressing well while 30-member states were not on track to meet CAADP goals by 2025 while 6-member states did not report in the 4th BR Cycle whereby progress was hampered by multiple crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian-Ukraine conflict, supply chain disruptions, multiple conflicts in the continent, and the impacts of climate change thus taking a toll on our agriculture sector.
It is important to note that despite the challenges, there has been tremendous progress made in economic and agricultural growth, improvement in poverty and nutrition outcomes, expansion of agricultural trade, and expansion of public investments in agriculture.
Additionally important for Member countries to use the findings of the report to achieve better results and outcomes.
The IGAD Head of Mission to the Republic of Uganda Ms. Joselyn Bigirwa moderated the Opening Session and welcomed the experts to Uganda appreciated them and the IGAD Member States for supporting IGAD in its different programs and projects.
Representing the Executive Secretary of IGAD and Director of Agriculture and Environment Division; Dr. Mohyeldeen Eltohami Taha Hamed, Director of Economic Cooperation and Regional Integration Division in his welcoming remarks expressed his appreciation to the Republic of Uganda for hosting the timely meeting.
He mentioned that IGAD has been participating in the CAADP through the years and the ultimate goal for the convening of experts at this meeting is paramount for the Member States and other stakeholders to hold in-depth discussions on performance, share experiences and lessons and to collectively identify main challenges in fulfilling CAADP commitments and make recommendations for improved performance to inform the 5th BR reporting.
"IGAD and our partners are committed to the realization and fulfilment of CAADP commitments at national and regional levels within the member states for each level of improvement will be a vehicle to agricultural transformation and a food secure region" Dr Eltohami added.
On behalf of the African Union, Dr. Godfrey Bahiigwa, Director of Agriculture and Rural Development at African Union Commission, called upon the IGAD Member States to utilize the findings of the 4th biennial report by reflecting and improving results on the ground for the benefit of the citizens through the making of policy reforms and increased investments in the respective countries.
"I thank the IGAD Member States for their commitment and hard work since the 1st report in 2017 to date and urge you to commit to great improvement of the 5th biennial report as a final report of the Malabo Declaration.
Henceforth, there will be an Extra Ordinary Heads of States and Government Summit in January 2025 where the CAADP 10-year Action Plan will be adopted as the Kampala Declaration further committing to shaping Africa's food systems for agricultural transformation and a food secure Africa"
The opening was officiated by Mr. Collins Amanya, Assistant Commissioner Planning representing the Commissioner Agricultural Planning at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), Republic of Uganda who expressed his gratitude to IGAD for the support rendered to the IGAD Member States to bring them closer to achieving the CAADP commitments.
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"The main challenge other than the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of data to report on all the indicators also affected our performance. Many of the Member States have a challenge with increasing public expenditure in Agriculture to the recommended 10% as agreed by the African Heads of State. There is need for increased advocacy for member countries to achieve this target by coming up with practical strategies to be implemented in the upcoming 5th (2025) Biennial Review report" Mr. Amanya added.
The regional consultative meeting is being attended by the senior experts from IGAD Member States, IGAD Secretariat, the African Union Commission and other Regional Economic Communities (RECs) such as COMESA, EAC, and SADC represented by CCARDESA as well as the private sector and civil society organisations.
In line with the regional instruments, IGAD has been implementing a Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP) since January 2023 with support from the World Bank.
The program is aligned fully with and directly contributing to the African Union Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) framework.
