African Countries which have implemented the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) have posted higher agriculture productivity and stronger gross domestic product (GDP) growth, as well as sharper declines in malnutrition compared with countries which have not done so, says the African Agriculture Status Report.
The report finds that "after decades of stagnation, much of Africa has enjoyed sustained agriculture productivity growth since 2005, and as a result, poverty rates have declined in places like Ghana, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso".
The CAADP, Africa's Policy Framework and Sustainable Development for Agriculture Transformation, Food security and Nutrition Economic Growth, was endorsed by African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government in 2003. Among other requirements, it calls for African governments to allocate 10 per cent of their national budgets to agriculture and to aim for 6.0 per cent annual growth in the sector.
Meanwhile, countries on the sidelines saw farm productivity rise by less than 3.0 per cent and GDP growth rise by only 2.2 per cent, the report says.
The trend, the report states, is similar for declines in malnutrition, with countries that have embraced the CAADP process experiencing annual declines ranging from 2.4 to 5.7 per cent, while those which have not average only a 1.2 per cent decline.
The report acknowledges that the 2014 AU Malabo Declaration on agriculture has significantly expanded the CAADP agenda in terms of thematic coverage and mutual accountability in countries.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK