Partners Agree on CAADP Priorities for 2023-2025
From March 13-15, 2023, 30 stakeholders gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss the past and future of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). Organized by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Union Development Agency’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD), the CAADP Coordination Meeting brought together representatives of regional economic communities (RECs) and other key partners to reflect on the Malabo Declaration and agree on priorities from now until the end of 2025, when the Malabo commitments end. Stakeholders also began thinking about the post-Malabo CAADP agenda. Policy LINK helped the AUC design and facilitate the meeting and also produced the meeting report.
CAADP works toward food security and economic development in Africa. The program anchors the AUC Agenda 2063, a strategy to achieve “an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa, driven and managed by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.” CAADP includes seven commitments, known together as the Malabo Declaration, which span mutual accountability, actions, and results.
The meeting was opened by Dr. Godfrey Bahiigwa, the AUC’s Director for Agriculture and Rural Development, and Ms. Estherine Fotabong, AUDA-NEPAD’s Director of Agriculture and Food Security, both of whom stressed the importance of making the most of the time left to implement the Malabo commitments. From there, Policy LINK’s Regional Director, Robert Ouma, facilitated a series of linked discussions on short-term priorities, lessons learned, and plans for the post-Malabo future.
On the first day, the AUC and AUDA-NEPAD both presented their proposed priorities for 2023-2025. After some discussion, they agreed on the following:
Improving the process for developing and implementing National and Regional Agricultural Investment Plans, which translate the priorities of countries and regions, respectively, into realistic objectives, targets, and financing needs;
Strengthening the fourth and fifth cycles of the Biennial Review (BR), CAADP’s primary mutual accountability mechanism for tracking progress against the 2015 Malabo Declaration;
Strengthening mutual accountability at the national and regional levels;
Enhancing knowledge management and learning, including documenting lessons and best practices, to inform the post-Malabo agenda;
Strengthening partnerships, communication and advocacy, and resource mobilization; and
Shaping the post-Malabo agenda.
The second day focused on coordination and alignment on the CAADP agenda among the AUC, AUDA-NEPAD, and the RECs. The day began with the AUC presenting its priorities for 2023-2025. Then, the RECs shared lessons learned over the past seven years of CAADP implementation, as well as their challenges and successes. The East African Community, for example, noted the lack of a regional monitoring and evaluation framework. The Economic Community of West African States, meanwhile, highlighted that four member states had institutionalized the joint sector review process, which provides a platform for collaboratively assessing the performance and results of the agriculture sector.
During the second day, stakeholders also explored “the big questions” underpinning CAADP: What is the overall theory of change of how agriculture could drive the transformation of African economies? After 20 years of CAADP, why have challenges in agriculture persisted? What should we do differently? Answering these questions will require both analysis and collaborative engagement to generate useful lessons that inform the post-Malabo agenda.
On the final day of the meeting, the AUC presented its 2023-2025 priorities to AKADEMIYA2063, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme, and USAID (through Policy LINK). The partners outlined their areas of support in response to the joint priorities outlined by AU-DARBE, AUDA-NEPAD, and the RECs. These partners also shared ideas for the post-Malabo agenda. AKADEMIYA2063, for example, stressed the importance of incorporating climate change considerations into CAADP planning, while the FAO noted the need to balance action at the country level with planning at the continental level.
The meeting resulted in a joint work plan of priority areas that the AUC and its partners will focus on for the next 2.5 years as they end CAADP implementation on a high note and develop a post-Malabo agenda. As Dr. Bahiigwa and Ms. Fotabong noted in their closing remarks, the CAADP Coordination Meeting was “only the start.”
Resources
Read about Policy LINK's support for a critical analysis of the third BR.