Special meeting of the Permanent Secretaries of Ministries of Agriculture

11 - 13 February 2014. African Union Commission Headquarters. The special meeting of the Permanent Secretaries of Ministries of Agriculture and Local Government and Development Working Group Leaders on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) National Agriculture Investment Plans ( NAIPs), on Country Post-Compact and Investment Plans Implementation.

The three day meeting was meant to:

• Share National Agriculture Investment Plans (NAIPs) implementation progress and challenges and identify lessons learned;
• Discuss and identify lessons from efforts to coordinate and align donor assistance to specific components of NAIPs;
• Review and discuss the 2014 areas of focus and work streams/thematic areas being proposed to sustain momentum and sharpen focus on implementation efforts;
• Review and discuss areas of focus to accelerate the impact of NAIPs and investments on poverty and hunger reduction.

Also in attendance was Sierra Leonne Minister of Agriculture, H.E Sam Sesay and other high level government representatives from Africa as well as international organisations and development partners.

Chair of the development partners’ task team and Programme Manager of the European Union Delegation to the African Union, Mr. Eulogio Montijano, in his remarks, stated that:

There is need to support a sustainable and inclusive agriculture as a key engine of growth, jobs, poverty reduction and food security. For that reason the decision by the African Union to declare 2014 the African Year of Agriculture and Food Security is supported by development partners as it would give agricultural policies a renewed thrust for the next decade.The CAADP Results Frameworks, which the AUC is currently defining, as an important tool, should significantly contribute to better identifying the priority areas of the agriculture for growth agenda.