Reports reaching this paper say Liberia’s Vice President Jeremiah Kpang Koung and Agriculture Minister Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah are expected to depart the country this week to attend the Kampala Declaration Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) meeting.
The Extraordinary Meeting of African Heads of State of the Kampala Declaration will kick off on Thursday, January 9-11, in Kampala, Uganda. It will bring together high-level delegates, including continent leaders, agriculture ministers, private sector actors, civil society members, and others.
The African Union Commission, Department of Agriculture Rural Development and Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (DARBE), and African Union Development Agency New Partnership African Development (AUDA-NEPAD) are organizing the meeting.
It will deliberate on the post-Malabo CAADP agenda of the draft 10-year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan with its associated draft of the Kampala Declaration on Advancing Africa Inclusive Agrifood System Transformation for Sustainable Economic Growth and Shared Prosperity.
According to the report, the extraordinary assembly will endorse the draft Kampala CAADP Declaration,, which provides the vision for transforming the African food system from 2026 to 2035, as well as the 10-year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan 2026-2035, which provides details on how to achieve the goals and targets in the draft Kampala CAADP Declaration.
CAADP is the African food security framework that has been crucial in driving agricultural transformation across Africa since its inception in 2003. The program aims to increase food security and nutrition, reduce rural poverty, create employment, and contribute to economic development while safeguarding the environment. CAADP aims for a 6 percent annual growth rate in the agricultural sector, with African Union member states allocating at least 10 percent of their budget to agriculture annually.
Liberia became a signatory to the framework in 2003. But like many African countries, it has yet to allot 10 percent of the total national budget to accelerate agriculture’s growth, despite pronouncements by previous administrations that make agriculture a priority to reduce poverty and improve food and nutrition security.
Over the years, the country has depended mainly on external sources to support agriculture. Despite external funding such as loans and grants, the nation’s agriculture still faces numerous challenges.
The government is struggling to address the challenges of improving the economy. A five-year ambitious plan has been developed to guide the country in galvanizing more resources to support agriculture in line with the CAADP principles and processes.
By Judoemue M. Kollie, Contributor
