Point of view article by courtesy of editorial committee "Africa-EU partnership" - A Sound Framework for African Agriculture

In terms of employment and economic output, agriculture is the most important sector for Africa, yet its potential is largely under-utilised. The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) is helping to achieve agriculture-led development across the continent.

As a predominantly agrarian continent, Africa’s economy is heavily dependent on its agricultural production. Relieving hunger and achieving the Millennium Development Goals necessarily involves targeted efforts in this field.

“Much more can be done,” says Willem Olthof, Head of Sector in charge of agriculture, food security and rural development at the Commission’s DG Development and Cooperation. He explains that there is good potential for agriculture in much of Africa and that benefits could be achieved by increasing sustainable production and productivity. Investments in agriculture have proven effective in reducing poverty and hunger and in creating additional and more rewarding jobs.

CAADP is a crucial tool in this regard. Acknowledging the huge potential of the sector, it focuses on improving policy formulation and implementation, stepping up investments as well as improving transparency and accountability.

“One of the key values of CAADP is that it puts a very high premium on knowledge, knowledge systems and evidence-based analysis for the planning, policy formulation, implementation and evaluation of programmes,” stresses Martin Bwalya, Head of CAADP.

Concrete targets have been set to achieve tangible progress: at the Maputo summit in 2003 when the programme was launched, African leaders pledged to aim for a 6 % agricultural growth rate per annum, and to devote 10 % of their resources to agriculture and rural development.

The programme has four ‘pillars’ corresponding to the different thematic priorities – sustainable land management, improved market access, increased food supply to combat hunger as well as more agricultural research and better technology dissemination.

How can the EU act as an effective partner?

While the programme is an entirely African-led and African-owned initiative, it is at the heart of development efforts undertaken in the framework of the joint Africa-EU strategy.

Recognising CAADP as a very useful instrument for development cooperation with Africa on agriculture, the European Commission provides financial support to it in the form of several projects and programmes.

One of them is a support programme for African farmers organisations. The programme strengthens the institutional capacity of these organisations and helps them to get their say in agricultural development policy and programmes.

“We are working with four regional platforms of farmer organisations,” Mr Olthof explains. “Through that initiative, we have also funded the establishment of the Pan-African Farmers Forum, set up to strengthen their role as partners in dialogue on policy.”

The EU is also active in support of land policy and land management (CAADP Pillar 1) and supports Africa's agricultural research agenda (pillar 4), in addition to support at the regional and national levels. Funding instruments used   are the Food Security Thematic Programme (FSTP), the Food Facility and the European Development Fund.

A number of different African institutions are involved in CAADP, including the African Union Commission, the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency (NPCA) as well as the regional economic communities. A trust fund was set up to help build the capacity of these institutions. It receives financial support from the USA and the EU as well as a number of EU member states. The Commission has contributed € 5 million so far.

Engaging with the private sector

Currently, the level of private sector financing in agriculture remains very low. Looking ahead, Mr Bwalya notes that this is a challenge to be mastered in the years to come in order to achieve better long-term results: “Harnessing private sector financing is an important means of achieving sustainable financing for the sector,” he says.

Progress in this field should be brought about by increasing accountability to key stakeholders and through public-private partnerships. Microfinance institutions will also play an important role in this context as a means of channelling private funding into agricultural activities.

More about Africa-EU Partnership: www.africa-eu-partnership.org