AGRICULTURE, FOOD SECURITY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT CLUSTER (AFSRDC)

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AGRICULTURE, FOOD SECURITY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
CLUSTER (AFSRDC)

• Cluster Report for the 10th
• Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM)
• BY
• WELDEGHABER KIDANE
• FAO, SENIOR AGRICULTURAL POLICY OFFICER

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Introduction

• preparation of an annual work plan has not been
  possible in the case of AFSRDC
• report based on two cluster meetings and key
  collaborative activities
• Some cluster members did not provide information
  on their collaborative activities ? report may
  not be complete.

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Cluster meetings

• First Cluster meeting held on 28 June 2009 in
  Tripoli margins of CADDP-Day
• Second Cluster meeting held on 22 September in
  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• Third Cluster meeting 4 November 2009 in Addis
  Ababa.

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Discussions

• Cluster concerned by low attendance
• Many parallel coordination mechanisms CAADP/PP,
  GDPRD/TT on CAADP, HLTF, MDG Africa
• Cluster reminded itself RCM is GA decision ?
  should work

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Outcome of Cluster meetings

• discuss with NEPAD and DREA their strategic and
  annual work plans and agree on few activities to
  be handled by AFSRDC
• agree between the cluster members key
  collaborative activities
• identify resources required for their
  implementation and strategy for its mobilization
• ensure that the activities are mainstreamed into
  the global CAADP coordination mechanism and
• organize AFSRDC meetings on the margins of bigger
  events that involve most cluster members to
  reduce costs and ensure better attendance.

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Collaborative Activities

• High Level Expert Meeting - League of Arab States
  and AU Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 8-12 November 2008.
  (FAO and WFP)
• paper on food crisis highlighted possible areas
  for joint Afro-Arab cooperation for sustainable
  agricultural development and food security in the
  two regions
• Conference on Water for Agriculture and Energy in
  Africa, Sirte 15-17 Dec. 2008
• Key players FAO, World Bank and AfDB along with
  NEPAD and AUC (400 participants
• Discussed (i) agriculture-energy nexus in Africa
  (ii) investment in water for agriculture and
  energy (iii) climate change and agriculture in
  Africa and (iv) inter- and intra-basin
  cooperation in water and energy transfer
• Four side events on water and energy related
  issues were organized that involved AfDB and FAO

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Collaborative Activities Cont.

• High Level Meeting on Food Security for All
  Madrid, Spain 26-27 January 2009
• FAO, IFAD and WFP were among the key
  organizations
• Hosted by the Government of Spain and the United
  Nations as a follow up to the High Level
  Conference on World Food Security the Challenges
  of Climate Change and Bioenergy convened by FAO,
  in collaboration with IFAD and WFP, and held in
  Rome from 3 to 5 June 2008.
• The meeting resulted in a declaration on specific
  actions as envisaged in the Comprehensive
  Framework for Action (CFA)
• Entrusted HLTF on the Global Food Security Crisis
  to ensure implementation of recommendations

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Collaborative Activities Cont.

• Tracking agriculture expenditure in the context
  of meeting the Maputo 10
• FAO with financial contribution from the World
  Bank in support of NEPAD/AUC
• Report discussed in a workshop in December 2008
• Outcome serving as important advocacy tool
• The 13th African Union Summit
• AfDB, WFP, FAO along with IFPRI and other
  partners for the Joint Meeting of Ministers for
  Agriculture and Ministers for Land held in Addis
  Ababa on 23 and 24 April 2009
• Four thematic areas (i) Climate Change
  Challenges and Opportunities (ii) Agricultural
  Trade and Market Integration (iii) Financing
  African Agriculture and (iv) Inclusion of the
  Poor and Most Vulnerable)
• FAO Prepared a synthesis paper of above documents
  and its own experience as background document for
  the 13th AU Summit

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Collaborative Activities Cont

• Promoting Agro-Industry and Agribusiness
  Development in African Countries
• Meeting convened by ECA in Addis Ababa 22-24 July
  2009
• Partners UNIDO, FAO, IFAD, AUC, AfDB, and CGIAR
  as well as AGRA and selected public and private
  sector institutions
• discussed a draft report on Public-Private-Partner
  ships (PPP) in agro-industry and agribusiness
• Agro-industry Conference will be held in March
  2010 in Abuja, Nigeria

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Collaborative Activities

• Sustainable Modernization of Agriculture and
  Rural Transformation (SMART)
• Key players are ECA in collaboration with FAO
  and UNIDO
• best practices on SMART assessed in West Africa,
  Central Africa and southern Africa using the
  value chain approach.
• Commodities in focus for the assessment cassava
  in Nigeria, rice and tomato in Senegal, milk in
  South Africa, palm oil and banana plantain in
  Cameroon and maize in Malawi
• Enhancing Market Access for Small-Holder Farmers
  
• WFP in partnership with FAO leveraging local food
  procurement capacity to enhance productivity of
  small-holder and low-income farmers
• Initiative being implemented on a pilot basis in
  some fifteen African

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Recommendations

• should meet once a year but continue to exchange
  information on regular basis via tele/video
  conferences and emails
• takes advantage of summits, conferences and other
  big meetings which involve participation of
  cluster members to organize side meetings to
  discuss Cluster issues
• urges ECA to bring the issues of resource
  constraints for effective cluster activities to
  the attention of Heads of Agencies through the
  Chief Executives Board (CEB)
• focuses on information exchange rather than
  preparing and implementing annual Cluster work
  plans and
• annual reports continue to comprise activities
  implemented through the collaboration of two or
  more members of the AFSRD Cluster.

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• Thank you!!!