Expert wants increased synergy between Nigerian, regional agric programmes


Mr David Adama, Programme Coordinator, Public Financing for Agriculture, ActionAid International, on Tuesday advocated increased synergy between Nigerian and regional agricultural programmes to boost the achievement of the desired results.

Adama made the call when he delivered a paper on “The Review of Agriculture Promotion Policy with CAADP Result Framework’’ at the Stakeholders Consultative Meting on 2018 Agriculture Budget.

He recalled that the Heads of State of African countries at the AU Summit in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2002 made the first declaration on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

The CAADP is Africa’s policy framework for agricultural transformation, wealth creation, food security and nutrition, economic growth and prosperity for all.

Adama said that10 years later, the African Heads of State at the AU Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, adopted the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and improved Livelihoods.

He listed the key targets, which African countries were expected to achieve under the Malabo Declaration by 2025, as allocating 10 per cent of national budgets to agriculture, achieving six per-cent agriculture sector growth and halving post-harvest losses.

He said that others included creating agricultural jobs for at least 30 per cent of the youth and initiating public-private partnerships in five priority agricultural value chains, among others.

The consultant said that the main thrusts 2016-2020 Agricultural Production Policy (APP) of the Federal Government are on food security, import substitution, job creation and economic diversification.

Adama said that the themes of APP included productivity enhancement, access to land, access to inputs, production management, storage, processing and marketing, access to finance and agribusiness development, among others.

He said that the Malabo Commitments on CAADP included attaining at least 10 per cent public expenditure on agriculture and six per cent agriculture sector growth as well as halving post-harvest losses, among others.

Besides, Adama said that West African countries, via the ECOWAS Agricultural Programme (ECOWAP), domesticated the CAADP and even added value to CAADP support and interventions to institutional change.

He noted that ECOWAP added one goal to the four CAADP goals on agricultural transformation and sustained inclusive growth.

“ECOWAP added improved management of national resources for sustainable agriculture to the four CAADP commitments it adopted,’’ he said.

Adama said that the results of AAP were somewhat vague, adding that instead of fully adopting the CAADP goal of “halving post-harvest losses, AAP just listed storage of agricultural produce as its target.

“Nigeria is expected to submit a report on her implementation of CAADP results framework but honestly, we don’t have anything in place at the moment,’’ he said.

“Former President Good Jonathan’s administration failed to bring down CAADP to the national level in its Agricultural Transformation Programme (ATA) and just executed the programme independently.

“Dr Jonathan attended the Malabo summit and entered into the Malabo Declaration and when President Muhammadu Buhari came on board; he reaffirmed our commitment to it but nothing has been done.

“By 2018, there would be a review of Nigeria’s efforts to implement CAADP commitments but we have nothing to show at present,’’ he added.


Adama, therefore, urged the Federal Government to domesticate the CAADP and ECOWAP commitments and integrate them in the AAP in a pragmatic way.

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