Africa needs strategy for food sovereignty

AFRICA needs a food sovereignty strategy that will deliver better impact on citizens through actions for wealth creation among vulnerable women and youths.

New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordination Agency (NPCA) senior programmes officer Unami Mpofu has said.
Commenting on the signing of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Compact in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the weekend, Ms Mpofu said the development is a positive milestone for private sector engagement, which was critical for delivering value for CAADP in the next decade.
“While National Agriculture Investment Plans (NAIPs) are inward looking for countries, the COMESA regional CAADP compact provides a regional dimension for trans-boundary social and economic impact for member states at a regional level.
“CAADP has heightened political and stakeholder interest which needs to be Africa-led and owned,” Ms Mpofu said in a statement issued yesterday.
And COMESA secretary-general Sindiso Ngwenya said the Regional CAADP Compact identifies three priorities, which are increased agriculture production and productivity focusing on staple foods, livestock, fisheries, forest produce, removing barriers to agriculture trade and reducing social and economic vulnerability.
“As we talk of agriculture transformation through mechanisation and adoption of new technologies as a first priority, there is need to have a baseline of where we are in order to assess the impact of our interventions”, he said.
Speaking on behalf of development partners, Word Bank acting country manager for the DRC Jean-Christophe Carret commended COMESA for signing the regional CAADP Compact and being at the forefront of the process from inception.
Mr Carret said success in regional and trans-boundary trade is essential if the growth in national level agricultural performance is to be sustained.

KABANDA CHULU, Lusaka