Eastern Africa Regional Consultations Begin Ahead of a New Declaration

*Group photo during the Eastern Africa regional consultation meeting.*

Amid progress and challenges to agricultural development in the region, stakeholders in Eastern Africa gathered to provide input for the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP)’s post-Malabo agenda. The Malabo Declaration, adopted in 2014, comes to an end in 2025, presenting an opportunity for stakeholders to look at the successes, setbacks, and lessons encountered in the implementation of CAADP, as the African Union and its partners embark on a process to outline the next 10-year agenda for the continent.

*Dr. Peter Owoko, Director of Agricultural Policy, State Department of Agriculture*

Hosted by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa, East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA NEPAD), the regional consultations were held in Nairobi May 21-23, 2024. Over 100 delegates representing member states, the private sector, technical partners, and farmer organizations were present during the dialogue.

Opening the workshop, the Principal Secretary, State Department for Agriculture in the Government of Kenya, in a speech read by Dr. Peter Owoko, Director of Agricultural Policy in the Department, said: “I want to promise that Kenya is committed to the post-Malabo CAADP agenda development process and will work with the member states closely to bring alive the next 10 years of an African agricultural agenda.”

The results have shown that after two decades of CAADP implementation (the 2014 Malabo Declaration followed the 2003 Maputo Declaration), the continent has made significant progress in economic and agricultural growth, reduced poverty, and malnutrition, expanded agricultural trade, and public investments in agriculture. However, immense challenges remain.

Successive biennial reviews since 2017 indicate that most of the countries are not on track to meet the Malabo commitments of agricultural growth and transformation for improved livelihoods and shared prosperity on the continent by 2025. Challenges include climate change, geopolitical tensions and conflicts, disease pandemics, and economic downturns. Food systems are evolving due to changes in demographics, urbanization, technology, dietary habits, increasing dietary diversification, and consumption of processed food. Increasing employment will also call for innovation, adaptation, and scaling to achieve the CAADP commitments.

*Over 100 delegates representing member states, the private sector, technical partners, and farmer organizations were present during the dialogue.*

Stakeholder consultations are a key aspect of the post-Malabo CAADP agenda development process, functioning in tandem with workstreams of research and analysis, design and drafting, and political mobilization across the continent. Regional consultations provide opportunities for member states and their key stakeholders to outline key issues, priorities, and strategic interventions for the region for inclusion in the post-Malabo agenda. Ultimately, this work will contribute to the declaration of a new agenda and commitments by the Heads of State and Government by the end of January 2025.

“It is my expectation that, through this meeting, member states will provide concrete input on the challenges that need to be addressed and suggest practical strategies and intervention for the post-Malabo CAADP agenda,” stated the remarks by Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Agriculture.

CAADP was adopted in 2003 by the African Heads of State and Government as an agriculture-led integrated development framework to boost African agriculture and food security, in what is known as the Maputo Declaration. The commitment entailed investing at least 10% of a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the agricultural sector, to attain a minimum 6% average annual growth of agricultural GDP. Ten years later, the 2014 Malabo Declaration was adopted. The CAADP results framework has been used in the past ten years to provide tracking, monitoring, and reporting on implementation progress towards achieving the goals and targets of the Malabo Declaration.