Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program
AU Heads of State and Government adopted the Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation in June 2014 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. The Malabo Declaration sets the Africa 2025 Vision for Agriculture which is implemented within the Framework of Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program as a vehicle to implement and achieve the First Ten Year Implementation Plan of Africa's Agenda 2063.
Among other commitments, the leaders committed to Mutual Accountability to Results and Actions by conducting a biennial Agricultural Review Process that involves tracking, monitoring and reporting on implementation progress in achieving the provisions of the Malabo Declaration to effectively achieve Agricultural Growth and Transformation on the Continent by 2025 for improved livelihoods and shared prosperity for African citizens.
The African Union Commission and NEPAD Agency together with the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Member States, in collaboration with partners designed for the first time ever a Biennial Reporting Mechanism, established a pool of technical experts, helped strengthen the culture of mutual accountability, and developed the "Inaugural Biennial Report on the Implementation of the Malabo Declaration"
The Implementation of the Malabo Declaration" fosters alignment, harmonization and coordination among multisectoral efforts and multi-institutional platforms for peer review, mutual learning and mutual accountability.
There are seven (7) thematic areas of performance:
(i) Re-committing to the Principles and Values of the CAADP Process;
(ii) Enhancing investment finance in agriculture;
(iii) Ending Hunger in Africa by 2025;
(iv) Reducing poverty by half, by 2025 through inclusive agricultural growth and transformation;
(v) Boosting intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and services;
(vi) Enhancing resilience of livelihoods and production systems to climate variability and other related risks; and
(vii) Strengthening mutual accountability to actions and results.
There twenty-two (23) performance categories and forty three (43) indicators are been defined, for the seven (7) thematic areas of performance aligned to the commitments to evaluate country performance in achieving agricultural growth and transformation goals in Africa.
Out of the forty seven (47) Member States that reported progress in implementing the Malabo declaration, only twenty (20) are on-track for achieving the commitments by 2025 by obtaining a minimum overall score of 3.94 out of 10.
In alphabetical order the Member States are Benin (4.3), Botswana (4.4), Burundi (4.7), Burkina Faso (4.2), Cape Verde (4.6), Ethiopia (5.3), Kenya (4.8), Malawi (4.9), Mali (5.6), Mauritania (4.8), Mauritius (5.0), Morocco (5.5), Mozambique (4.1), Namibia (4.1), Rwanda (6.1), Seychelles (4.0), South Africa (4.1), Swaziland (4.0), Togo (4.9), and Uganda (4.5).
From these results, Rwanda has the highest score of 6.1 on Agricultural Transformation in Africa, and is the 2017 best performing country in implementing the seven (7) commitments of the June 2014 Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared prosperity and Improved Livelihoods.
"Agriculture can be even more than the 'new oil'. One day the oil will run out and Africa will always have its fertile land, its rivers, its youthful workforce and its huge domestic market. Investing now can turn that potential into prosperity." H.E Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President, Nigeria.
"In low-income countries, where most people work in agriculture, improving agriculture will be important not only for reducing poverty but also for generating economic surplus to support industrialization. Governments need to facilitate the innovation and extension of agricultural technology and improvement of infrastructure for agricultural production and commercialization." – Justin Li, Former Vice President, World Bank.
The overall focus is the acquisition of knowledge and technology for transformation of Africa's agriculture sector, and bilateral trade and investment to enable the continent to feed itself and be a major player as a net food exporter.
To maximize opportunities in Africa and to boost bilateral trade and investments, it is vital to understand the economic integration taking place business climate, which currently influenced by changes that linked to the economy and to accelerate an integrated Africa such as: The African Integrated High Speed Train Network that crisscrosses Africa; African Commodities Strategy; Continental Free Trade Area; and Free movement of People enabled by the African Passport.
Consequently, there would be briefing on three major decisions from the AU Summit in January 2018 that significantly influence the prospects: African Economic Community, Single African Air Transport Market, and the African Continental African.
The Diaspora Marketplace for African Diaspora is one the AU Diaspora Legacy Projects. Based on the timeline, Diaspora Market Place installation of innovation platform and sensitization of the Diaspora was supposes to be done 2016/17 with commencement in 2018.
Development Markeplace for African Diaspora is designed to promote entrepreneurial drive, spur innovation, and expand job creation in Africa by support for Diaspora owned business investing in Africa. The Round-table will address African ownership, development of network to facilitate policy and technical support, conducive environment for investment by Diaspora Small and Medium-size Enterprise, incentives, and public-private partnership.
Direct Diaspora Investments
Numerous research and publications have established that an alternative to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in increasing economic growth in developing societies is Diaspora Direct Investment (DDI), might serve to alleviate the downturn in investment from Western nations G-8, G20 and traditional private sources.
DDI is distinct from FDI in that it relies on Transnational Network made up of migrants and migrant mechanisms operating simultaneously between host and home countries. The migrants are the linchpin because they have a unique knowledge of their homeland and culture. These factors make the migrants a more viable facilitator of capital acquisition and investment.[1]
[1] Diaspora direct investment (DDI): The Untapped Resource for Development. United States Agency for International Development. By Thomas Debass (Office of Development Partners and Office of Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade) and Michael Ardovino, Ph.D Meet African Business Owners and International investors on the exchange.
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