By Olawale Abdul-Fatah
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), have launched the agriculture and food security joint Thematic Working Group (TWG).
Under the auspices of the Joint Secretariat Support Office (JSSO), the purpose of this initiative was to enhance the strategic partnership to accelerate Africa’s transformation and will serve as a platform for information and knowledge sharing.
At the launch of TWG which was held on the side of ongoing Conference on Land Policy in Africa holding in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, the group for agriculture and food security will focus its work mainly on supporting African countries and regional economic commissions (RECs) to roll out the common Africa Agro-Parks (CAAPS) and Staple Agro-industrial processing zones (SAPZs) initiatives.
Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union Commission,Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, said: “By 2025, if we can have 70% of ending the hunger on the continent, it will be a great thing”, and added that joint thematic working group that is bringing together ECA, AfDB and AU” is the best way forward to really achieve our objectives”.
On his part, Director, Regional Integration Division at ECA, Stephen Karingi, lauded the initiative and linked to the focus area on the African Continental Free Trade Area noting, “We can’t have a successful AfCFTA without agriculture and food security”.
The thematic working group will focus on Coordination of seed systems development, Special Agro-Industrial processing zones and Common African Agro-Parks, Food Safety laboratories and Food Safety Agency, Access to Agricultural mechanization services for Women and African Land Policy Reform.
