Vice President Jeremiah Kpang Koung and Agriculture Minister Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah are expected to depart the country this week to attend the Kampala Declaration, Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) meeting.
The Extraordinary Meeting of African Heads of States Kampala Declaration will kick off on Thursday, January 9-11 in Kampala, Uganda bringing together high-level delegates comprising leaders of the continent, ministers of agriculture, private sector actors, civil society members, and others.
The meeting is being organized by the African Union Commission, Department of Agriculture Rural Development and Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (DARBE), and African Union Development Agency New Partnership African Development (AUDA-NEPAD).
It will deliberate on the post-Malabo CAADP agenda of the draft 10-year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan with its associated draft of the Kampala Declaration on Advancing Africa Inclusive Agrifood System Transformation for Sustainable Economic Growth and Shared Prosperity.
According to the report, the extraordinary assembly will endorse the draft Kampala CAADP Declaration which provides the vision for transforming the African food system from 2026 to 2035 as well as endorse the 10-year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan 2026-2035 that provides details on how to achieve the goals and target in the draft Kampala CAADP Declaration.
CAADP is an African food security framework that has been crucial in driving agricultural transformation across Africa since its inception in 2003. The program is aimed at increasing food security and nutrition, reducing rural poverty, creating employment, and contributing to economic development while safeguarding the environment. CAADP aims for a 6 percent annual growth rate in the agricultural sector, with African Union member states allocating at least 10 percent of their budget to agriculture.
Liberia became a signatory to the framework in 2003, after its civil war when then the framework was the Maputo Declaration. But like many African countries, the nation is yet to allot 10 percent of the total national budget to accelerate growth for agriculture, despite pronouncements by previous administrations to make agriculture a priority to reduce poverty and improve food and nutrition security.
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The country has depended largely on external sources over the years to support agriculture and despite the external funding as loans and grants, the nation's agriculture is still faced with numerous challenges.
The government is struggling to address the challenges for agriculture to improve the economy as a five-year ambitious plan has been developed to guide the country in galvanizing resources for the support of agriculture.
