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Markets and trade
 

Africa

At the African Union (AU) Summit of June 2014 in Malabo, the African Heads of State and Government adopted the “Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods”. One of the key commitments of the Declaration was to boost intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and services by 2025 (through the CFTA/ CET). This is increasingly regarded as a means to promote agricultural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), since it can help address the key challenges to agricultural development in the region (such as diverse agro-ecological systems, small national markets etc.). It can also incentivize critical investments in production and marketing infrastructure that are needed in order to scale up production and improve productivity.

Capacity development for food security and nutrition in East and Southern Africa 
In support of FAO’s Strategic Objective 4 (to enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural food systems), FAO is delivering the FAO Multipartner Programme Support Mechanism (FMM) project on Trade related capacity development for food security and nutrition in East and Southern Africa (ESA).

The FMM project aims to contribute to: 

 Strengthened capacities on the linkages between trade, food security and nutrition, and on the treatment of agriculture in multilateral and regional trade agreements; and 

 Improved coherence between agriculture and trade-related policy frameworks at the national and regional levels, thereby contributing to the development of more inclusive and efficient agricultural development.

What FAO does
FAO collaborates with regional and subregional offices as well as regional partners to support countries in achieving their commitments to boost intra-African trade by:

• Generating information on the implications of regional trade agreements, and developments in negotiations for food security and agricultural development.
• Developing capacities of national stakeholders on the rules and agreements governing trade and their implications for food security, and preparing stakeholders for negotiations and implementation.
• Facilitating dialogue between representatives of ministries of agriculture and ministries of trade nationally and regionally, with the aim of improving understanding and promoting coherence and consistency in their policy processes.