Agriculture transforming African economy—AUC
African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture,Tumusiime Rhoda Peace said 2014 as the year of agriculture, is a goodtime to reflect on the progress, commitment made in transforming theagriculture sector.
The African Union during a meeting held in 2012 declared 2014 as theyear the African continent would dedicate most of its activities totransforming the agricultural sector.
Speaking during the on-going joint conference of ministers ofAgriculture, Rural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Peace said agriculture has a role totransform Africa’s economy.
She said that agriculture has been showing a growth performance of about 4 percent perannum over the last decade of the Comprehensive Africa AgricultureDevelopment Programme (CAADP).
“This is indicative that agriculture andthe rural sector are at the centre of the transformation agenda.”
She added: “The decision of the African Union Assembly of Heads of States andGovernment to commemorate 2014 as the Year of Agriculture and FoodSecurity and marking the 10th Anniversary of the Adoption of CAADP,provides us all with a unique opportunity to engage ourselves in anexercise of honest assessment and reflections on the progresses madethus far, the lessons we have learnt, and chart clear set of goals andtargets for implementation in the next decade in a context oftransformative agenda to get rid of hunger, malnutrition and povertyfrom our continent.”
Ethiopia’s State Minister of Agriculture Wondirad Mandefro in his opening remarks said that CAADP has played a crucial role in improving coordination amongvarious players on agriculture strategy development and mobilizingresources to support development endeavours.”
According to Mandefro, the five day meeting aims at finalising consensuson strategic goals and improved coordination of programmes linkingagriculture and rural development and strengthening policy andinstitutional capacities for advancing agricultural transformation.
