06.01.2013 Views

A Decade of NEPAD - Economic Commission for Africa - uneca

A Decade of NEPAD - Economic Commission for Africa - uneca

A Decade of NEPAD - Economic Commission for Africa - uneca

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

high food prices, but with a special focus on conservation<br />

agriculture. This is being used in a joint <strong>NEPAD</strong>-<br />

FAO programme (2008-10) to scale up the adoption <strong>of</strong><br />

conservation agriculture in Southern <strong>Africa</strong>. It aims<br />

to reach 23,700 rural households. Farmers in Lesotho,<br />

Mozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe have been<br />

trained and given improved seed varieties and appropriate<br />

technologies such as the jab planter and planting<br />

basin methods. Women and children are key targets<br />

<strong>of</strong> the programme, which in 2010 will be extended to<br />

Eastern <strong>Africa</strong>.<br />

ӹ Water and irrigation: Under Pillar 1, <strong>NEPAD</strong> coordinates,<br />

aligns and manages knowledge initiatives across<br />

the continent. An initiative to address regional constraints<br />

to scaling up investments in irrigation development<br />

was launched. Here <strong>NEPAD</strong> focused on ensuring<br />

that regional resource mobilisation directly supports<br />

country CAADP processes.<br />

Pillar 2 – Market Access<br />

Pillar 2 aims to increase market access through improved<br />

rural infrastructure and other trade-related interventions.<br />

The lead agency under Pillar 2 is the Dakar, Senegal based<br />

Conference <strong>of</strong> Ministers <strong>of</strong> Agriculture <strong>of</strong> West and Central<br />

<strong>Africa</strong> (CMA/WCA):<br />

The objectives <strong>of</strong> Pillar 2 are to:<br />

ӹ Accelerate growth in the agricultural sector by raising<br />

the capacities <strong>of</strong> private entrepreneurs (including<br />

commercial and small-holder farmers) to meet the increasingly<br />

complex quality and logistic requirements <strong>of</strong><br />

markets, focusing on selected agricultural commodities<br />

that <strong>of</strong>fer the potential to raise rural (on- and <strong>of</strong>f-farm)<br />

incomes, and<br />

ӹ Create the required regulatory and policy framework<br />

that would facilitate the emergence <strong>of</strong> regional economic<br />

spaces that would spur the expansion <strong>of</strong> regional trade<br />

and cross country investments<br />

Key objectives <strong>of</strong> the work programme under Pillar 2<br />

include initiatives to:<br />

ӹ Improve local infrastructure so that <strong>Africa</strong>n farmers<br />

have better connections to markets, addressing issues<br />

including:<br />

• transportation, (road, rail, marine and air freight)<br />

• storage, packaging and handling systems<br />

• retail facilities<br />

7. Toward Ownership and Partnership with <strong>NEPAD</strong>: Key Recommendations A <strong>Decade</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>NEPAD</strong><br />

• in<strong>for</strong>mation technology, and<br />

• overall supply chains.<br />

ӹ Improve competitiveness through sound trade policies<br />

at the national, regional and continental level.<br />

ӹ Strengthen capacity to participate in trade negotiations<br />

and meet market access requirements <strong>for</strong> world trade<br />

(quality, grades and standards, etc.).<br />

ӹ Strengthen capacities among the agribusiness community<br />

and facilitate business partnerships with importing<br />

companies.<br />

ӹ Build strategic alliances to create industry-to-industry<br />

linkages and expand domestic and <strong>for</strong>eign direct investment<br />

in agriculture<br />

Key initiatives under Pillar 2 to date include the following:<br />

ӹ Framework Development: Work is proceeding on the<br />

Market Access vision and framework simultaneously.<br />

The Secretariat has facilitated and coordinated the final<br />

technical review and validation processes <strong>for</strong> the<br />

CAADP Pillar 2 Framework on increasing market access<br />

through improved infrastructure and trade-related<br />

interventions.<br />

ӹ Fertiliser Programme: Following up on the Abuja Declaration,<br />

<strong>NEPAD</strong> has worked closely with the <strong>Africa</strong>n<br />

Union <strong>Commission</strong> and the <strong>Africa</strong>n Development Bank<br />

to establish the <strong>Africa</strong> Fertiliser Financing Mechanism.<br />

Already over US$35 million has been mobilised and will<br />

be directed to countries through country roundtable<br />

processes.<br />

ӹ Regional trade: Facilitation programmes are currently<br />

being funded in the COMESA and ECOWAS regions to<br />

promote the integration <strong>of</strong> regional markets and raise<br />

the competitiveness <strong>of</strong> local products in these markets.<br />

ӹ Other initiatives: The UK’s Research Into Use Programme<br />

recently launched the <strong>Africa</strong>n Enterprise<br />

Challenge Fund to finance agribusiness joint ventures<br />

and other business-to-business alliances. The US <strong>Africa</strong>n<br />

Growth and Opportunities Act also provides<br />

duty free access <strong>for</strong> <strong>Africa</strong>n origin products, including<br />

agri-products.<br />

Pillar 3 – Food Supply and Hunger<br />

Pillar 3 aims to increase food supply and reduce hunger<br />

across the region by raising smallholder productivity and<br />

improving responses to food emergencies. The lead technical<br />

advisers under Piller 3 are the University <strong>of</strong> KwaZulu<br />

Natal – <strong>Africa</strong>n Centre <strong>for</strong> Food Security in Durban,<br />

89

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!