PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
US: AUC, US to foster cooperation on food security
Washington DC, US (PANA) - The African Union Commission (AUC) and the US government on Monday in Washington DC, reaffirmed their commitment to work together to accelerate agricultural development in Africa to ensure food security on the continent.
The commitment was made at the session on "Resilience and Food Security in Changing Climate", at the ongoing US-Africa Leaders Summit.
A working document, obtained by PANA in Washington DC, stated: "This year, the AU revisited its 2003 commitments and declared 2014 the Year of Agriculture and Food Security."
At the AU Summit in Malabo in June, African leaders agreed to accelerate agricultural growth as the primary strategy to end poverty in Africa, to reduce vulnerability to climate and weather related risk, to mainstream resilience and risk management, and to end hunger in Africa by 2025 through commitments that include reducing childhood stunting.
"At the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit the AUC shared its plans for a Roadmap to implement the Malabo Declaration’s commitments, including actions to build resilience to climate and weather-related risks through Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA)," it said.
In that regard, the US affirmed its support and offered continued technical assistance to incorporate CSA into national and regional plans and use climate data, modeling and training to assist countries in adopting CSA approaches.
The US also expressed its commitment to provide technical support to strengthen the AU Commission and national efforts to economically empower women in agriculture.
"Further, in support of our shared food security agenda, the United States has announced in partnership with the AUC, more than 10 billion dollars in planned socially responsible private sector investments through the New Alliance," the document indicated.
The US said it would train young people with 1,300 fellowships and long-term training opportunities through a range of Feed the Future Programmes.
Also, at the summit, Sierra Leone, the Ghana Open Data Initiative, IBM, and Kellogg Company announced they would join the US as partners in the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) initiative.
GODAN supports global efforts to make agricultural and nutritional data available and accessible for unrestricted use worldwide, and had invested US$1 million in the World Bank’s Agricultural Insurance Development Programme (AIDP).
The grant will provide analysis and technical assistance to countries to design and implement sustainable, cost-effective public private partnerships in agricultural insurance, in order to increase the financial resilience of rural households.
Additionally, together with African leaders, the US said that it had played a central role in the foundation of, and has expressed its intention to join the global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture (ACSA) slated for launch at the UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit in New York in September.
This global alliance will embrace the fundamental aspirations of climate-smart agriculture, sustainably improving productivity, building resilience, and reducing and removing greenhouse gases.
The US said that it had also initiated "The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition", which was expected to expand private sector investment and public-private partnerships for smallholder farming to reduce poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Under the New Alliance, international and local private sector partners outline their intentions to invest responsibly in New Alliance countries' agriculture sectors, member countries commit to undertake policy actions to attract private investment, and G-7 and other donors make funding commitments.
The document stated: "Today, the 2013-2014 Progress Report for the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition will be released in conjunction with a new website
(www.new-alliance.org)."
"In its first two years, the New Alliance has expanded to include 10 African countries and 180 companies (the majority of which are African).
"In addition to more than US$10 billion in socially responsible private sector commitments, the New Alliance has resulted in US$1.1 billion in private commitments that have been realized and 3 million smallholders have been reached through services, training, sourcing or production contracts," it said.
Also, it noted that nearly 37,000 jobs had been created and country-led and country-right reforms in Ethiopia, private sector investment had encouraged the government to liberalize its seed sector, Nigeria had reformed an inefficient fertilizer sector, and Tanzania had removed its export ban.
Others achievements listed are Burkina Faso passed two significant laws governing public-private partnership and Rwanda has strengthened its focus on addressing malnutrition and supporting farmer cooperatives.
-0- PANA AA/MA 4Aug2014
The commitment was made at the session on "Resilience and Food Security in Changing Climate", at the ongoing US-Africa Leaders Summit.
A working document, obtained by PANA in Washington DC, stated: "This year, the AU revisited its 2003 commitments and declared 2014 the Year of Agriculture and Food Security."
At the AU Summit in Malabo in June, African leaders agreed to accelerate agricultural growth as the primary strategy to end poverty in Africa, to reduce vulnerability to climate and weather related risk, to mainstream resilience and risk management, and to end hunger in Africa by 2025 through commitments that include reducing childhood stunting.
"At the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit the AUC shared its plans for a Roadmap to implement the Malabo Declaration’s commitments, including actions to build resilience to climate and weather-related risks through Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA)," it said.
In that regard, the US affirmed its support and offered continued technical assistance to incorporate CSA into national and regional plans and use climate data, modeling and training to assist countries in adopting CSA approaches.
The US also expressed its commitment to provide technical support to strengthen the AU Commission and national efforts to economically empower women in agriculture.
"Further, in support of our shared food security agenda, the United States has announced in partnership with the AUC, more than 10 billion dollars in planned socially responsible private sector investments through the New Alliance," the document indicated.
The US said it would train young people with 1,300 fellowships and long-term training opportunities through a range of Feed the Future Programmes.
Also, at the summit, Sierra Leone, the Ghana Open Data Initiative, IBM, and Kellogg Company announced they would join the US as partners in the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) initiative.
GODAN supports global efforts to make agricultural and nutritional data available and accessible for unrestricted use worldwide, and had invested US$1 million in the World Bank’s Agricultural Insurance Development Programme (AIDP).
The grant will provide analysis and technical assistance to countries to design and implement sustainable, cost-effective public private partnerships in agricultural insurance, in order to increase the financial resilience of rural households.
Additionally, together with African leaders, the US said that it had played a central role in the foundation of, and has expressed its intention to join the global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture (ACSA) slated for launch at the UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit in New York in September.
This global alliance will embrace the fundamental aspirations of climate-smart agriculture, sustainably improving productivity, building resilience, and reducing and removing greenhouse gases.
The US said that it had also initiated "The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition", which was expected to expand private sector investment and public-private partnerships for smallholder farming to reduce poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Under the New Alliance, international and local private sector partners outline their intentions to invest responsibly in New Alliance countries' agriculture sectors, member countries commit to undertake policy actions to attract private investment, and G-7 and other donors make funding commitments.
The document stated: "Today, the 2013-2014 Progress Report for the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition will be released in conjunction with a new website
(www.new-alliance.org)."
"In its first two years, the New Alliance has expanded to include 10 African countries and 180 companies (the majority of which are African).
"In addition to more than US$10 billion in socially responsible private sector commitments, the New Alliance has resulted in US$1.1 billion in private commitments that have been realized and 3 million smallholders have been reached through services, training, sourcing or production contracts," it said.
Also, it noted that nearly 37,000 jobs had been created and country-led and country-right reforms in Ethiopia, private sector investment had encouraged the government to liberalize its seed sector, Nigeria had reformed an inefficient fertilizer sector, and Tanzania had removed its export ban.
Others achievements listed are Burkina Faso passed two significant laws governing public-private partnership and Rwanda has strengthened its focus on addressing malnutrition and supporting farmer cooperatives.
-0- PANA AA/MA 4Aug2014
