The African Union Launches the 4th Biennial Review Report and the Post-Malabo Roadmap

Group photo of participants in the launch of the 4th Biennial Review (BR) Report and Post-Malabo Roadmap.

The Biennial Review (BR) process is a mutual accountability mechanism that the African Union and its Member States use to track the implementation of CAADP commitments captured in the Malabo Declaration. The BR Report enables countries to track, measure, and report progress against agreed result areas; foster alignment, harmonization, and coordination for peer review and mutual accountability; strengthen capacities for knowledge and data generation; and recognize and award the best performers across the continent.

The official launch of the 4th Biennial Review (BR) Report and Post-Malabo Roadmap took place on March 8, 2024, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The hybrid event drew more than 300 attendees from across the continent, including representatives of African Union institutions, technical implementing partners, donors, and research organizations supporting the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP). African Union Member States Comoros, Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, and Rwanda were present as well. The launch followed the BR Report’s official endorsement by the Assembly of African Heads of State and Government at their 37th Ordinary Session, which took place in February of this year.

The event sought to raise awareness of the BR Report and enhance ownership of and action on its findings at the national, regional, and continental levels. In line with the event theme—“Reflecting on the Malabo Declaration and Outlining the New (Post- Malabo) Agenda to Build Momentum, Re-invigorate and Consolidate the Gains on CAADP, and Respond to Emerging Trends and Dynamics”—it also aimed to kickstart a dialogue on the post-Malabo planning process. To that end, it featured discussions on the Post-Malabo Roadmap, which sets out objectives, processes, expectations, and timelines for planning CAADP’s next phase.

This event was officially launched by H.E. Ambassador Josefa Sacko, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment; Synne Bjørnrå, Deputy Head of Mission at the Norwegian Delegation to the African Union; and Nardos Bekele-Thomas, the Chief Executive Officer of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD). 

Ms. Nardos Bekele Thomas, CEO, AUDA-NEPAD ( left); H.E Amb. Josefa Sacko, AUC Commissioner (center); and Ms. Synne Bjørnrå, Deputy Head of Mission at the Norwegian Delegation to the AU present the 4th Biennial Report to the participants.

After welcoming attendees, H.E. Ambassador Sacko provided a status update on CAADP, noting that, “Currently, no country is on track to meet all the seven Malabo commitments.” She continued, “However, 26 countries have seen their scores improve since the third BR. The reasons are not far-fetched. The current report is being released against the backdrop of the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian-Ukraine conflict, supply chain disruptions, multiple conflicts in the continent, and the impacts of climate change. The combined effect of the overlapping shocks has taken a toll on our agriculture sector.” H.E. Ambassador Sacko commended Rwanda, Morocco, and Egypt for their “remarkable progress” and highlighted ECOWAS, the best-performing regional economic community (REC).

H.E. Ambassador Sacko noted the BR Report is “a powerful instrument for advocacy at the continental, regional, and national levels, triggering the necessary policy actions for agricultural transformation in Africa.” She also noted that the process is “enhancing peer learning by assisting Member States to learn good practices from each other.” In addition, she praised stakeholders’ considerable efforts to ensure data quality through the use of the electronic Biennial Review (e-BR) system.

Synne Bjørnrå delivered opening remarks on behalf of Odd Eirik Arnesen, the current chair of the Donor Partners Coordination Group. She noted agriculture’s contributions to poverty reduction, saying, “Agriculture is key not only to on-farm activities—it largely supports off-farm activities that contribute directly and indirectly to increased household incomes, hence reduction of poverty and inequality. The agriculture sector and its associated services will therefore remain the most important pillar for food security and nutrition in Africa. The sector will also remain a critical engine for inclusive economic growth and transformation.”

Deputy Head of Mission Bjørnrå concluded her remarks by congratulating the African Union and sharing her hope that the launch of the 4th BR Report and the Post-Malabo Roadmap would spark meaningful dialogue and fundamental policy changes that would transform African agriculture. 

Presenting the 4th BR Report in detail was Dr. Godfrey Bahiigwa, the African Union Commission’s Director of Agriculture and Rural Development. Dr. Bahiigwa noted the BR was a collaborative effort by AU Member States, RECs, and several technical organizations and individuals, under the leadership of the African Union Commission and AUDA-NEPAD. He also highlighted the best and most improved performances in the 4th BR cycle: Best Performers – Rwanda, Morocco, and Egypt, respectively; Best Performing REC – ECOWAS; and Most Improved Country – Comoros 

The post-Malabo discussion was led by AUDA-NEPAD. Speakers were keen to note that after 20 years of CAADP implementation, African countries are in a much better position than they were when the Maputo  Declaration was signed in 2003. Average incomes, as well as agricultural output, productivity, trade, and investments, all are significantly higher, while hunger and poverty rates have declined. AUDA-NEPAD representatives stressed the importance of building on past successes while remaining flexible enough to respond to emerging issues and new challenges, many of which were highlighted in the most recent BR Report. They also noted that a key strength of the CAADP agenda over the past 20 years has been consistency in the principles, values, and key commitments guiding implementation. 

Resources 

The 4th BR Report is available in six African Union languages at https://au.int/en/documents/20240229/4th-caadp-biennial-review-report-20125-2023.

The Interactive Biennial Review Toolkit, meanwhile, can be found here: aucaadp.org - CAADP BR Toolkit