The Republic of Sudan has become the 12th Member State in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region to sign the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Compact.
The Compact was signed during a high level meeting held in the capital city Khartoum on the 30th July 2013. This brings the total number of African countries that have signed this commitment document to 32.
Speaking on the occasion of the signature ceremony, Sudan Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Dr. Gaafar Ahmed Abd Alla said his government has adopted agriculture as the key driver for economic growth within the framework of the CAADP.
“The CAADP instrument is important when Sudan is taking many steps when (during a period when) the contribution of oil to the national economy has declined following the secession of South Sudan and the global economic crisis.” He said.
Food security
Minister Abd Alla said Sudan would provide political and economic support through sound agricultural policies to address challenges of food security and nutrition adding that his country is endowed with enough land and ground water to play a key role in addressing the food crisis in Africa and globally. He thanked the African Union (AU), COMESA and NEPAD for assisting Sudan to sign the finalized document.
COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya said it was ironical that despite Africa’s abundant natural and human resources, the continent is still food insecure while the COMESA region continues to spend more than 20 billion United States Dollars to import food from outside the region.
“..Our African leaders have recognized that growth in agriculture is the most effective strategy for achieving the African renaissance. This is due to the impact that agricultural growth has on reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security while also creating jobs and promoting overall economic growth”. Mr. Ngwenya said.
Mr. Ngwenya said COMESA is keen to support Sudan and stakeholders in the next phase of the CAADP process which involves designing of a detailed National Agriculture Investment Plan.
African Dream
And the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Tumusiime Rhoda Peace said the AU recognizes Sudan as one of the leading pillars of the African dream of becoming a food sufficient and exporter of agricultural commodities to the rest of the world.
“I’m aware that the Sudan has Africa’s largest irrigation agriculture scheme (the Gezeera) features among Africa’s leading countries in agro-industry processing. The country is one of the largest in terms of agriculture and animal production labour force”. She said.
The Sudan National CAADP Compact was signed by Government ministers of Agriculture and Irrigation, and Finance and National Economy, COMESA Secretary General, the African Union, NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency (NPCA) and representatives from the Farmer’s Union, private sector, civil society and development partners.
Other COMESA member states that have signed their National CAADP Compacts include Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Seychelles, Swaziland, Uganda and Zambia.
Rwanda was the first country to sign the CAADP Compact (2007) in the COMESA region. She is one of the four countries with Burundi, Ethiopia and Malawi to access the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP) funding. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe, Comoros and Madagascar are some of the COMESA member states that are advancing towards the Compact signatures.
Related articles
- Swaziland working hard on CAADP (observer.org.sz)
- COMESA signs private sector deal with AMSCO (allanapotashblog.org)
- Africa Strives to Move from Reducing to Eradicating Hunger (allanapotashblog.org)
- Africa can follow Brazil’s lead in battle to eradicate hunger, says Lula (allanapotashblog.org)
- Uganda joins COMESA (mpoverello.com)
- Zambia’s exports into COMESA region rise (times.co.zm)
- 2025: United behind the African agenda to eradicate hunger (allanapotashblog.org)
- African nations move to eradicate hunger by 2015 (mdginafrica.wordpress.com)
- Online portal will track African agriculture investments (aasw6.wordpress.com)
- Ethiopia-Sudan highway completed
