FG, AU partner on food security

THE African Union Commission (AUC) said it is working with other regional agencies to help Nigeria mainstreams the new Malabo commitments in her national agriculture and food security investment plans.

The Team Leader of Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP),  African Union commission Ernest Ruzindaza,  stated this in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the 3-dayworkshop on the domestication of the Malabo Declaration on Agriculture and food security in Nigeria.

Ruzindaza said the workshop, organized by the AU Commission and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), “is to review and refresh the plan for making crop, livestock and fisheries the centerpiece of Nigeria’s economic development agenda.”

According to him the AU Commission has finalized the CAADPimplementation guidelines, which are meant to support the country delivery of CAADP-Malabo initiatives to enable Nigeria to align its Green Alternative programmes with Malabo Declaration.

The Head of CAADP, New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency, Dr. Augustine Wambo  stated that the essence of the workshop was to help advance the policy framework and reforms needed to develop an inclusive agricultural system and encourage the private sector investments in the sector.

Speaking with Nigerian Tribune at the event, Dr.Kahinde Makinde, Nigeria’s Programme Officer of the Alliance For Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) said the meeting was about the Nigerian agricultural investment plan which are align with the Malabo declaration ensure that food self-sufficiency in Africa is achieved.

“We are looking to understand better, the green alternative programme of the federal government of Nigeria, to understand what the investment components are and to see how this can be aligned with the continental agenda,” he said.

It would be recalled that the African Union Heads of State and Government in June 2014 have made a firm commitment to accelerate agricultural growth and transformation to lift the continent out of poverty and end hunger 2025 through the Malabo declaration.