28. The Conference had on its agenda two discussion items: i) Implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) with four sub-items and ii) Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) for Food Security in Africa.
29. The Chairperson of the Technical Committee, Ms. Bongiwe Njobe, presented the report of the Committee, laying emphasis on the recommendations of the above two discussion items and giving an overview of the standing item i.e. Follow-up to the World Food Summit (WFS) and the World Food Summit: five years later - Regional Dimensions.
30. The Conference noted that its Technical Committee had deliberated upon the main Document ARC/04/4.1 on the Implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and also took note of the related sub-item documents: ARC/04/4.2, ARC/04/.3, ARC/04/.4 and ARC/04/INF/6.
31. The Conference further noted that progress on CAADP implementation had been realized in all of its four pillars except for the market access programmes under the Rural Infrastructure and Market Access pillar, which were not well defined. It acknowledged the critical need for civil society and in particular, farmer’s participation in the implementation of the CAADP as well as the importance of partnership between civil society, government, the private sector and other development partners to support CAADP implementation. It requested NEPAD Secretariat, AfDB, FAO and other development partners to further elaborate the Market Access component of CAADP pillar No. II for its effective implementation.
32. More significantly, the Conference acknowledged the progress made by a number of countries on follow-up to the Maputo commitment of allocating at least 10% of national budgets to agriculture and rural development within 5 years and appreciated FAO’s assistance in preparing Medium-term Investment Programmes and bankable projects. The Conference appreciated the organization of the Roundtable on Financing Agriculture by FAO and AfDB as a parallel session at this conference.
33. The Conference also appreciated the documentation on the CAADP related sub-Items, including: initiative to review and update national agricultural policies and strategies; integrating forestry, fisheries and livestock into CAADP; fertilizer production and use in Africa; and the establishment of regional food reserve systems, including food stocks. It agreed with the objectives of the proposed NEPAD/WFP/FAO study on Food Reserve Systems and the finalization of the study.
34. To accelerate progress in the implementation of CAADP, the Conference:
a. recommended the establishment of a Forum of Permanent Secretaries in order to support and ensure the implementation process of the CAADP at the national, regional and continental level in an effective and coherent manner;
b. recommended setting up CAADP focal points at national level to drive the process;
c. urged the NEPAD Secretariat to prepare annual reports on CAADP implementation;
d. urged the NEPAD Secretariat to work with FAO (and other development partners) to set up a clear mechanism for monitoring the progress of the CAADP, with well-defined performance indicators and a specific time frame;
e. stressed the need for NEPAD, with AU’s support, to consider including agricultural sector in peer review mechanism to ensure good governance for implementation, in line with the existing established principles of the AU;
f. recommended that NEPAD should work with AU with a view to establishing a CAADP Support Group;
g. recommended that the outcome from the continental Farmers' Organization’s consultation on CAADP implementation held from 23-25th February 2004, Johannesburg, should be taken into consideration;
h. urged FAO to assist member countries to develop sustainable approaches to soil improvement based on integrated natural resources management and greater integration of crop-livestock systems. Particular attention should be given to the improvement of fertilizer availability, affordability and production in Africa, on the basis of regional cooperation and involvement of the private sector. In this respect, the Conference unanimously adopted the Resolution ARC/04/RES below.
35. To ensure alignment of CAADP with national and other programmes, the Conference:
a. recommended to countries that had not done so, to engage with FAO to review policies and strategies, and develop medium term investment plans and bankable projects;
b. urged the NEPAD Secretariat and FAO to continue to facilitate exchanges of experiences on success stories among countries in Africa;
c. recommended that the AfDB infrastructure programmes for the development of rural infrastructure should support food production and market access;
d. recommended that mainstreaming gender issues should be integral to all CAADP strategies and programmes.
36. To expand the scope of CAADP, the Conference:
a. noted that progress was made with the development of a companion document on integrating forestry, fisheries and livestock sectors. The Conference, however, recommended that there should be further consultations with national governments and farmers' organizations to identify concerns, priorities and areas of investments;
b. stressed the need to do further work to clarify the concept and process to establish African Centres of Excellence as a basis for facilitating capacity building and sharing of experience;
c. recognized the work being done to address specificity, peculiarity and the challenges of Small Island Developing States, hence requested that the implementation of CAADP should take into account this issue.
37. The Conference applauded the commitment made by the African Heads of State and Government at the Maputo Summit, July 2003 to allocate at least 10% of national budgetary resources to agriculture and rural development within 5 years. In order to assist member countries to operationalize this commitment in a cost effective and efficient manner, the conference:
a. recommended that FAO and other development partners assist member countries to better articulate and define the scope and application of the 10% investment in the context of agriculture and rural development;
b. urged member countries to ensure that the 10% investment in agriculture and rural development should be justified by good returns.
ARC/04/RES
RESOLUTION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF FERTILIZER INDUSTRY IN AFRICA IN SUPPORT OF THE COMPREHENSIVE AFRICA AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (CAADP)
The Conference:
Welcoming the call by the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in the Maputo Declaration for the implementation, as a matter of urgency, of the CAADP at the national and regional levels and their commitment to allocate at least 10% national budget resources for its implementation within 5 years;
Noting that the CAADP document has set the target of 6% annual growth rate for food production in Africa, with particular attention to small-scale farmers and women;
Noting Further that the current annual growth rate for food production in Sub-Sahara African countries is less than 3%;
Aware that the use of fertilizers can greatly increase crop yield;
Aware Also that Africa is the only continent in which per capita food production has declined continuously over the past two decades, making the Continent a net food importer;
Recognizing that the decline in food production in Africa is due, inter alia, to the continuous mining of soil nutrients by cropping without adequate replenishment;
Noting that fertilizer use in Sub-Saharan Africa is only 9 kg/ha, as compared to 100 kg/ha in South Asia, 150 kg/ha in East and South-East Asia, 73 kg/ha in Latin America and 206 kg/ha in the industrial developed countries;
Aware that Africa has large deposits of natural gas and rock phosphate which are exported cheaply to the developed countries and the manufactured fertilizers are imported into Africa at high costs which the small-scale farmers cannot afford to pay;
Reaffirming the NEPAD principle of self-reliance and ownership:
i) Expresses appreciation to FAO for the assistance rendered to the NEPAD Secretariat in the preparation of CAADP and the Action Plan;
ii) Recommends to the NEPAD Implementation Committee of Heads of State to give top priority to the development of the fertilizer industry in Africa to support the sustainable implementation of the CAADP;
iii) Calls on the NEPAD Secretariat, with the assistance of FAO and the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC) and other relevant Organizations to conduct an up-to-date assessment of all fertilizer plants in Africa with estimated costs of revamping them and the establishment of new plants at suitable sites, with the aim of making Africa not only self-sufficient in fertilizer production, but a net exporter of the finished products by the year 2015; and
iv) Calls upon National Governments, FAO and NEPAD to utilize the results of relevant national and sub-regional initiatives as well as of this assessment in order to facilitate fertilizer availability, affordability and production in Africa.
38. The Conference acknowledged that Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) was now considered the most appropriate framework for "good water governance" and recommended its adoption as a strategic framework for all socio-economic development activities.
39. The Conference further acknowledged the risks associated with rain-fed agriculture in semi-arid and drought-prone areas and urged member countries to adopt drought-mitigation measures in those areas subject to frequent weather vagaries leading to famine and food aid requirements.
40. The Conference recognized the important role of irrigation in food production and poverty reduction and recommended that it should be integral to any strategy to sustainably increase agricultural output. It further recognized the advantages of small-scale irrigation and requested FAO to continue its assistance to member countries to expand their water management programmes within the framework of the Special Programme for Food Security. The Conference, however, emphasized the need to build environmental health protection measures into irrigation development programmes.
41. Noting that some 60% of water withdrawn for agricultural production is lost in a variety of ways, the Conference recommended the adoption of water saving techniques and better on-farm water management in order to improve irrigation water efficiency and productivity.
42. The Conference noted the 25 action points - which confirmed the existing commitments and the new actions that were proposed by the Heads of State and Governments in their recent Sirte, Libya Declaration on Agriculture and Water in Africa within the context of NEPAD and recommended that:
a. AU working with member countries should take appropriate steps to translate the commitments into concrete actions.
b. National governments should ensure public investment and private sector participation in the development of water resources for agricultural production and food security.
The Conference:
43. expressed appreciation for the initiatives taken by FAO to implement the World Food Summit Plan of Action and the World Food Summit: five years later;
44. noted, however, that the progress towards the WFS goal of reducing the number of the undernourished has so far been disappointing in that the number of undernourished people in Sub-Saharan Africa has increased from 168 million in 1990/92 to 202 million people in 1999-2001; and, therefore, recommended that:
45. Governments and Regional Economic Communities:
a. step up their efforts to translate the commitments made at the WFS and at the WFS:fyl into action;
b. coordinate policies and programmes and have holistic inter-disciplinary approach to tackle food insecurity in all its dimensions;
c. accord high priority to food and the agricultural sector within a broad based development framework, and that development approaches, strategies and programmes be nationally owned;
d. explore creating internal funding mechanisms to help implement their respective Regional Programmes for food security.
46. FAO:
a. ensures that apart from cassava and rice, other staple crops such as maize be given due emphasis in CAADP, in view of its importance in the diet of many member countries; research be undertaken to diversify in the long-term diets in countries where maize is the main food commodity;
b. continues to provide its technical assistance to member countries towards the work on grain reserves in view of their importance at national, sub-regional, and regional levels.
