“For decades food security and self-sufficiency in Africa have been seen as a distant dream. The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, however, hopes to make it a reality, and while it may have begun with a slow start, its coordinators are confident it will produce more positive results in the coming years.

The program is implemented through the African Union’s (AU) Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA), which was set up to improve food security, achieve sustainable development and improve livelihoods on the continent…

…Although the first African country only signed the CAADP Compact in 2009, the program has advanced greatly in the last three years. Now 30 AU member states have signed the compacts, which require them to devote at least 10 percent of their budgets to agriculture.

Under the program, countries draw up comprehensive investment plans that include the four CAADP pillars: sustainable land and water management; improved market access and integration; increased food supplies and reduced hunger; and research, technology generation and dissemination….”

Read the full article from the Inter Press Service News Agency.

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