Promoting regional agricultural trade and value chains

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(Centre) Minister of Agriculture and Forestry for Equatorial Guinea, H.E. Francisco Mba Olo Bahamonde


In Central Africa, agriculture is key to economic development. In some countries of the sub-region, more than 60 per cent of the population live in a rural environment, while 50 per cent of the working population are involved in the agricultural sector. The agricultural policies of the Central African countries follow a number of different approaches, depending on their urbanisation levels and their strategies with regard to the exploitation of natural resources.
One common characteristic to all of these countries is that the level of local production and processing of food products is insufficient to meet consumer demand. A substantial majority of the countries in the sub-region are largely dependent on imported food products, which impact enormously on the region's balance of payments.
Despite its geographical situation and the potential complementarity in the trading of food and agricultural products, Central Africa remains one of the least integrated regions of the continent in terms of intra-regional trade, the movement of people and how the physical infrastructure interconnects. It is in this context that the question of intra-regional trade in agricultural and agro-food products, as well as the development of value chains is being tackled at the Conference on Promoting Regional Agricultural Trade and Value Chains, in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. The conference was organised by the NEPAD Agency, the government of Equatorial Guinea, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Centre technique de cooperation agricole et rurale (CTA).
In his opening remarks, the Deputy Secretary General of ECCAS, Mr Sangale Rondo Crespin Jaime, stated that the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Programme (CAADP) plays an indispensable role in Central Africa by providing a platform to engage in agricultural integration.
The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, H.E. Francisco Mba Olo Bahamonde, emphasised the important role of CAADP in boosting intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and services through its commitment to triple intra-Africa trade in agricultural commodities by 2025.
Dr Hamady Diop, Head of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Programme at the NEPAD Agency maintained that transformation in agriculture should go hand-in-hand with the exploitation of opportunities in improved intra-regional trade. Dr Diop emphasised the importance of identifying and putting in place mechanisms that will boost trade in the central African region, such as innovative investments through public private partnerships and growing value chains along trade corridors. A key component that will inform the strategic roadmap for promoting regional agricultural trade and value chains in the region also includes improving knowledge and the generation of statistics for practical use.
The conference brings together a number of key actors involved in agricultural trade and the development of the region's priority sectors (in particular staple food). It also involves representatives of the regional integration institutions, specialist regional agencies, producers' organisations, traders, processors, agro-food companies, chambers of agriculture, warehouse managers, bankers and insurers.
Source: NEPAD Agency

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