Nairobi / 15th PDDAA pp meeting: "zero hunger" in Africa by 2020 for Josefa Sacko

The challenge of H.E. Josefa Sacko, AUC Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, is to totally eradicate hunger in Africa by 2020. She made this known on 13 June 2019 in Kenya, during a press briefing she gave on the sidelines of the 15th meeting of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) Partnership Platform.

Question 01: Ms. josefa SACKO, we are currently at the 15th meeting of the CAADP Partnership Platform, which has been taking place since June 11, 2019 here in Kenya in Nairobi. The said event ends on June 14, 2019...... So can you tell us in a few words what CAADP is?

Answer: It is the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) is an African initiative designed to revitalize agriculture. It was adopted in Malabo in 2014 by Heads of State and Government to strengthen the importance of the agricultural sector as the engine of shared prosperity and improved livelihoods.

Question 02: What is the objective of this 15th meeting of the CAADP Partnership Platform?

Answer: The objective of this meeting is to finance the agricultural sector, totally eliminate hunger by 2020 in the continent. There is also talk of improving trade and market access to accelerate the transformation of agriculture. It is also important to recall that the overall objective of CAADP is to increase food policy and ensure food security in our countries. And this increase necessarily requires the technical development of allocations, subsidies and credits to producers.

Question 03: What have been CAADP's greatest achievements to date?

Answer: Among other things, there was the adoption at the African Union summit in 2018 of the inaugural biennial review report and the dashboard on the transformation of agriculture in Africa. The latter are a unique tool for shared learning and contribute significantly to accelerating agricultural transformation on the continent. Member States have already started collecting data on 47 indicators to support the report to be presented to Heads of State at the January 2020 summit. Among the member countries, only 20 countries are implementing the indicators proposed in Malabo for sustainable agriculture.

Question 04: Do you think that CAADP is sufficient to meet the challenges of training youth in agricultural occupations in Africa?

Answer: This is already a good start to the goal that African countries have set for themselves. People should be taught to consume African food. This will help to reposition the programs in this sector. Because African resources must first be used by Africans themselves.

Question 05: What are the next steps?

Answer: More awareness and determination to accelerate the implementation of Malabo commitments. Develop and adopt a strong strategy to accelerate agricultural trade in Africa. We also have a responsibility to strengthen data availability, evidence-based planning for informed implementation and effective mutual accountability.....