FAO and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) have organised a three-day consultation on the Smart Policy Instruments to support the implementation of the comprehensive Africa agriculture development programme (CAADP)
The meeting took place in Johannesburg-South Africa, bringing together relevant stakeholders including public officials, a representative from civil society groups, private sector representatives, think-thanks, national implementing agencies, regional and multilateral development banks and technical partners.
The participants discussed how policy instruments could support countries and regions in planning and implementing well-crafted NAIPs (National Agriculture Investment Plans) and RAIPs (Regional Agriculture Investment Plans) as part of the domestication of the Malabo Declaration process.
In his opening remarks, the FAO subregional coordinator for Southern Africa, Dr Alain Onibon stressed the need for policy instruments which are required for policymakers to design and implement effective policies.
Dr Augustin W Yamdjeu, head of CAADP, articulated similar concerns adding that the Johannesburg convening expected to support the finalisation of draft instruments. The three-day workshop was critical for the participants to be sensitized on the importance of the “Policy Instruments.”
While the CAADP advocacy has paid-off, the initial targets to achieve six per cent and 10 per cent growth and investment in the sector respectively by countries, remain very low.
The lessons learnt from the 10 years of implementation emphasised the need to better assist countries to prioritise impactful value chains and strengthen the organisational capacities of the public sector to plan well. It was therefore realised that the missing link is the policy instruments, which could be embraced by the countries to ensure systematic funding of their NAIPs.
The AUDA-NEPAD and participants expressed gratitude to FAO and emphasised upon the need for FAO’s continued support to implement follow up activities to complete the mainstreaming of policy instruments into CAADP to deliver the Malabo commitments.
