LAST UPDATED: January 10th 2014
Briefing on the African Union Heads of State Summit Addis Ababa, 21st – 31st January 2014
Background th
2014 has been declared the “Year of Agriculture and Food Security”. In their 50 Anniversary’s Declaration in May 2013, African Heads of State and Governments made a commitment to “preserve our arable land for current and future generations, develop our rural economies, our agricultural production and ag ro-processing to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, as well as achieve food security and self-sufficiency”. In addition, “Agricultural production and the development of the agro-processing to ensure food security” is one of the 8 priorities of the new African Union Commission Strategic Plan approved in May 2013. The precise theme of the year is formulated as follows: “Transforming Africa’s Agriculture for Shared Prosperity, through harnessing opportunities for inclusive growth and sustainable development”. Sub-themes for the year 2014: Increased agriculture production, productivity and value addition Functioning agricultural markets (country and regional markets& trade) Increased investment financing (public & private) along the agriculture value chains Towards ending hunger in Africa by 2025: Building resilience to address vulnerability to risks th
During the January 2014 Summit, AU Heads of State will officially launch the ‘Year of Agriculture and Food Security, marking the 10 Anniversary of the adoption of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme – CAADP'' but no in-depth policy discussion/decision is expected on this topic. The AU has commissioned a number of studies related to the theme of the year. A special Ministerial Meeting (Agriculture, Rural Development, Fishing, Finance etc...) will be organized in the course of the year to review the reports of those studies. The Ministerial report will be tabled for the July 2014 Summit.
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