Bridge gaps in agriculture – Sata

From JERRY MUNTHALI in Addis Ababa
PRESIDENT Sata today addressed the 22nd Ordinary Session of the
African Union (AU) with a call on leaders to come up with sound
strategies to bridge possible gaps in the financing of national
initiatives in order to effectively implement the Comprehensive
African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).
The President said there is need for African countries to continue on
the path of CAADP implementation in order to achieve food security,
poverty reduction and income for the people.
“As we reflect on where we are today, 10 years after the Maputo
Declaration on the Comprehensive African Development Programme, we are
reminded of our collective commitment to comprehensively address the
issues of hunger and food insecurity in a more sustainable manner,” Mr
Sata said
He said agriculture continues to play a cardinal role in the economic
growth of most African countries.
“As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of CAADP, I wish to urge all
my fellow African leaders to make sustainable investment decisions
that will have an impact on the agriculture sector and subsequently
produce long-term benefits for our people,” Mr Sata said
He said in Zambia, the agriculture sector contributes more than 18
percent of Growth Domestic Product (GDP) and it is the main source of
livelihood and income for over 78 percent of the rural population.
He said his Government firmly believes that the CAADP framework
provides a realistic approach to reducing poverty by focusing on how
to improve the income of citizens, attain food security and
create jobs for the most vulnerable in society who include the
unemployed youth, women and children.
“Zambia started the process of CAADP implementation in 2006, a few
years after the Maputo Declaration. I am pleased to inform this August
Assembly that with the support of the AU, through the New Partnership
for Africa’s Development and other partners, we have made tremendous
progress in its implementation,” Mr Sata said.
He also said through broad stakeholder consultations, Zambia has
developed a national agriculture investment plan for agricultural
development which provides an overall investment framework for the
agriculture sector and is in tandem with the country’s overall
national development plan.
The President said all these important initiatives require sustained
investment in the agriculture sector in line with the recommendations
of the Maputo Declaration.
“Zambia is fully committed to the implementation of our continental
programme and for her part, has increased allocations to the
agriculture sector and embarked on resource mobilisation initiatives
with our cooperating partners for support in co-financing our national
investment plan,” Mr Sata said.
He also expressed happiness that in September last year, Zambia was
among the developing countries that was allocated a grant of US$ 31.12
million from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme to
support the implementation of its investment plan.
“We are grateful for this grant as it will go a long way to support
the implementation of our various programmes,” Mr Sata said