FUNDS SCARCITY HAMPER EA MALABO GOALS

 

Scarcity of funds has hampered implementation of the Malabo Declaration goals on agriculture in East Africa.

The Declaration made by the African Union heads of states in 2014 has targeted to end hunger and halve poverty by 2025. 

A senior official of the East African Community (EAC) said the drawback  has undermined positive strides made in agriculture.

"Inadequate financial support from the partner states is behind this", said Christophe Bazivamo, the deputy secretary general (Productive and Social Sectors). 

This, he added when addressing agricultural stakeholders in Dar es Salaam this week, has jeopardized progress towards implementation of the set priority actions under the Malabo Declaration.

A recent assessment though, indicated that the six nation EAC region has failed to attain the targets due to low investment in agriculture.

Mr. Bazivamo said during the EAC Sectoral Council on Agriculture and Food  Security meeting that efforts are underway to revamp the sector. 

These include creating an enabling environment to catalyse increased agricultural production and productivity to achieve nutrition and food security.

Others are to enhance performances of agricultural value chains and agri-businesses as well as promoting regional and international trade of agricultural produce. 

The meeting in Dar es Salaam which started on Monday with senior officials from the partner states was expected to end on Friday (March 25th) with a ministerial segment.

The meeting was expected to consider reports on the EAC regional Food and Nutrition Security and harmonization of livestock, fisheries and aquaculture development. 

Officials of the six partner states will also review the region's performance in the implementation of the EAC roadmap on Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP). 

This is a continental initiative, founded in 2003 by the AU and  aimed to help African countries eliminate hunger and reduce poverty. 

Through CAADP, African countries agreed to allocate at least 10 percent of their national budgets to agriculture to achieve a growth of at least six percent.

The meeting will consider resource mobilization to support Agriculture Interventions and receive and discuss a report on the Competitive African Rice Initiative in East Africa (CARI-EA) project.  

 Dr. Mary Mwale from Kenya called for stronger collaboration between the EAC partner states in the quest for harmonization of approaches towards boosting agricultural productivity and food security in the region