FG, other partners ready to mainstream NAIP to CAADP-Malabo declaration compliance

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Rural development, Chief Audu Ogbeh

The Federal Government through her Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and other stakeholders in collaboration with other international organizations will between 22^nd-24 February, 2017 brainstorm on appropriation of National Agricultural Investment Plan (NAIP) of the Nigeria  following guidelines of  CAAP- African Union (AU) Malabo Declaration on Agriculture and post harvest losses.

Expected to be at the Multi-stakeholder consultation workshop for the appraisal and formulation of the new NAIP are the Ministers of Finance, Agriculture, Budget and National Planning, Water Resources, Environment and Trade & Investment who will be interfacing with other stakeholders like AUC-DREA, NEPAD, ECOWAS and other technical agencies- AGRA, IFPRI, FAO, AFRICA LEAD, ReSAKSS, West Africa.

Food Farm News gathered that the FMARD is very passionate to expedite action on the outcome of this meeting’s resolutions as a tool to use in re positioning the ministry towards global standard practice of projects monitoring and evaluation with effective centralization of training policy so as to avert wastage's arising from departmental duplication's.

The following are part of outcome the workshop is expected to produce-

 i. A road map with detailed deliverables and responsibilities of partners cum time frames towards new NAIP formulation.

 ii. Coordination mechanism of the roadmap. 

 iii. Communication mechanism between Nigeria, ECOWAS, NPCA and AUC.

At the end of the conference, Nigeria is expected to be seen playing an advocacy role for the sector to remain very high tool for economic diversification with agricultural promotion policy using her NAIP to comply with CAAP- Malabo declaration.

 In January 30, 2014 the AU launched “year of Agriculture and food security” to mark the 10^th anniversary of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAAP), and it was stated  during its 22^nd Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the theme “ transforming Africa’s agriculture for shared prosperity and improved livelihood - Harnessing opportunities for inclusive growth and sustainable development ” that the African Union Commission (AUC) carried out a broad based consultation with key stakeholders including AU member states, producers, women &youth organizations and development  technical partners across the continent to review, strategize and set goals, action and targets for the next decade to 2025 as part of sustaining the CAADP momentum.

However, the climax of the 2014 AU year of agriculture and food security was marked during the 23^rd ordinary session of the Assembly in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, from 26-27, June of the same year during which AU Heads of state and Government adopted the Malabo declaration towards achieving accelerated agricultural growth and transformation for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods.

As part of the commitment, the AU Heads of state and Government committed to ending hunger by 2025 and to achieve this, they further resolved to halve the current level of post-harvest losses by 2025, and Nigeria was in the first phase of African countries to appraise her agricultural investment plan using the Malabo conditions and guidelines.