Rwanda has emerged the best performer in Africa in Implementation of Agriculture Program during the 14th Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Agriculture and Food Security (SCAFS) in Tanzania.
Chief Administrative Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives, Republic of Kenya, Mr. Lawrence Angolo Omuhaka who chaired the Ministerial Session said that with concern that the Second CAADP Biennual Report submitted to the AU General Assembly in February, 2020 showed that the Eastern Africa region, with the exception of the Republic Rwanda, was not on track on most targets. He added that the report portrays the absolute and relative performance of countries and indicates that there was a lot to be done in order to transform the agricultural sector in Africa.
“As a region we should applaud the Republic of Rwanda for emerging the best performing country on the continent for the second time, scoring 7.24 which was above the minimum score of 6.66 required to be on-track,” said Mr. Lawrence.
Harmonized policies
He noted the urgent need for the region to implement harmonized policies and to operationalize regional instruments in order to guarantee sustainable agricultural production, trade in commodities and to attain sustainable regional food and nutrition security.
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The chair pointed out that AU Member States were required to demonstrate their commitment to the ideals and principles of CAADP, by following relevant CAADP processes. This is in regards to Africa’s policy framework for agricultural transformation, wealth creation, food security and nutrition, economic growth and prosperity for all.
“This will ensure that there are appropriate actions to achieve accelerated agricultural growth and transformation for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods for the population on the continent, by 2025,” said Mr. Omuhaka.
Speaking on behalf of the EAC Secretariat, Director of Productive Sectors, Mr. Jean Baptiste Havugimana noted that more than 70% of the industries in EAC were agro-based, including production of agricultural inputs; while 75% of the traded goods are agricultural commodities and products.
“Linking agricultural trade and industry is therefore imperative in promoting agricultural production as industries provide the market for agricultural produce while trade delivers processed agricultural products to the market/ consumer,” said Mr. Havigimana.
