Isaac Shinyekwa presents the findings of the African Union Inaugural Biennial Review Report 2018. Photo by Mouris Opolot
Dr. Isaac Shinyekwa, a Senior Research Fellow at the Economic Policy Research Centre has called for more work to institutionalize the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) processes and enhancement of national ownership in some African countries.
Shinyekwa made the observation while participating at the High-level Forum on the African Union Inaugural Biennial Review Report 2018. The forum was held at the Golf Course Hotel, Kampala under the theme: Intensifying Visibility, Building Consensus and Instigating Change for Uganda 2018.
CAADP process is about boosting investment to stimulate growth in the agricultural sector in line with the Malabo Commitments.
Shinyekwa discussed the Inaugural Biennial review report 2018 key findings and recommendations on implementation of the Malabo Commitments.
“The overall stage for re-committing on CAADP Process shown by all the 47 members states, is at 63%,” he said adding that more efforts are therefore needed for member states to fully domesticate the Malabo Declaration into their National Agriculture Investments Plans.
Regarding the CAADP Commitment of allocating at least 10 percent of annual public expenditures to agriculture Shinyekwa said only ten member states had met the target during the review period of 2015 and 2016.
List of countries investing 10 percent expenditure on agriculture
| Country | Investment in Agric 2015-2016 |
| Angola | 14.8% |
| Mauritania | 13.0% |
| Senegal | 11 % |
| Burkina | 10.5 % |
| Egypt | 14.0% |
| Equatorial Guinea | 10.5% |
| Ethiopia | 16.8 % |
| Malawi | 17.6% |
| Mali | 12.4% |
| Sudan | 13.4 % |
He further said, the continental target for bringing down undernourishment to 5% or less, by the year 2025 has not been met. Out of the 32 member states that reported progress on reducing the proportion of the population that is undernourished, only 9 (Egypt, Ghana, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal and Togo) are on track.
Whereas the African Heads of State committed to creating new job opportunities for at least 30% of the youth in agricultural value chains by 2025, reliable data on the proportion of new jobs created for the youth in agriculture are not available.
Regarding the creation of an enabling environment for Intra-regional Trade in Agricultural Commodities and Services, Shinyekwa said 34 member states are on track, reaching more than the minimum of 10 in 2017.
Only Mauritius is on track in respect to disaster preparedness policy and strategy and on early warning response systems and social safety out of 34 member states reported.
30 out of the 32, which reported on enhancing mutual accountability for Actions and Results, are on-track.
The average score for the whole Africa, based on the 47 country reports, is 3.60, which indicates the Union is not on-track in meeting the CAADP/Malabo commitments when assessed against the 3.94 benchmark for 2017.