Uganda to implement the Malabo declaration next financial year

Apr 03, 2015

Government is to implement the Malabo declaration through the second phase of the agriculture infrastructure development plan being finalized by the ministry of agriculture animal industry and fisheries.


By Prossy Nandudu
 
Government is to implement the Malabo declaration through the second phase of the agriculture infrastructure development plan being finalized by the ministry of agriculture animal industry and fisheries.

 
The ministry is currently in the second phase of writing a new strategy for the sector to incorporate the declaration.

This was revealed by the CAADP desk officer at the ministry of agriculture animal industry and fisheries, Tom Mugisa during the 11th CAADP PPP meeting recently held in Johannesburg under the theme: "Walking the Talk: Delivering on Malabo Commitments on Agriculture for Women Empowerment."

"What we are doing is to incorporate the Malabo declaration within the country's Agriculture Development Strategic plan  that is being worked on now. This will be effective in the month of July, that is when we hope to realize results as per the declarations," said Mugisa.
 
He was responding to calls from the Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union, Rhodah Peace Tumusiime to African countries to implement commitments made by the heads of state last year to drive the agriculture sector growth.

According to the commissioner, there has been progress as public expenditures allocated to agriculture have increased by an average of 7.4% per year, resulting in doubling the volume of public funding to agriculture since the adoption of the CAADP in 2003.

"Although we still fall short of the commitment made in Maputo in 2003, several Member States have been making efforts to meet the CAADP target of allocating at least 10% of public expenditure to agriculture and some have surpassed the target," she noted.

Tumusime  added that a few countries have already registered remarkable growth exceeding the CAADP target of 6%, thus attesting clearly that the desired level of agricultural growth is well within the reach of the continent.

She however noted that while celebrating the successes, there is still a challenge of strengthening and accelerating progress on agricultural transformation in Africa.

 "Indeed, majority of African Governments have yet to deliver on their 2003 Maputo commitment to allocating at least 10% of their public expenditures to agriculture," said Tumusiime.

The AU Summit of June 2014 (Malabo Declaration, 2014) gave renewed legitimacy to CAADP as Africa's policy framework for agriculture growth and transformation for shared prosperity.
 
CAADP was reached at during the Maputo declaration in which African leaders again committed themselves to setting a side a10% of their national budgets towards the Agriculture sector for food and nutrition security.
 
Last year, Heads of State meeting in Malabo agreed to implement the previous recommendation, through CAADP.
 
Some of the CAADP pillars that will grow the agriculture sector include Improving rural infrastructure and trade-related capacities for market access, increasing food supply, reducing hunger, and improving responses to food emergency crises; and Improving agriculture research, technology dissemination and adoption

 

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