Decision on the Summit on Food Security in Africa, Abuja, Nigeria – Doc. assembly/AU/6 (VIII)

DECISION ON THE SUMMIT ON FOOD SECURITY IN AFRICA,
ABUJA, NIGERIA - (Doc. ASSEMBLY/AU/6 (VIII)

The Assembly:

1. TAKES NOTE of the Report of the Summit on Food Security in Africa;

2. WELCOMES the Abuja Declaration on Food Security;

3. APPRECIATES the efforts and support by President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Government of Nigeria for initiating and hosting the Special Summit on Food Security that afforded Member States the opportunity to collectively re-assess their agricultural development strategies with a view to focusing attention on a few key actions that can best move Africa forward in eradicating hunger by 2030;

4. ENDORSES the Abuja Declaration on Food Security and ADOPTS the recommendations of the African Agriculture Ministers Conference on revitalization of African inter-regional trade on agricultural commodities and infrastructure for water control held in Libreville, Gabon;

5. REAFFIRMS its commitment to allocate at least 10% of the national budgets to agriculture and DETERMINED to reduce the Continent’s annual expenditure of USD 20 billion on agricultural imports;

6. EMPHASIZES the need to accelerate the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) by focusing efforts and resources on selected areas that could yield quick and sustainable results at national, regional and continental levels;

7. ENDORSES the African Seed and Biotechnology Programme (ASBP) as a strategic framework for the development of the seed sector in Africa and REQUESTS the AU Commission to establish the necessary institutional arrangements to coordinate the effective implementation of the ASBP at the national, regional and continental levels;

8. URGES Member States to increase Intra-African trade by promoting and protecting rice, maize, legumes, cotton, oil palm, beef, dairy, poultry and fisheries products as strategic commodities for Africa and take urgent measures to accelerate development of the strategic commodities by fast tracking the implementation of trade arrangements adopted in the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) through lowering tariff barriers and elimination of non tariff barriers both technical and non-technical by 2010;

9. ENCOURAGES Member States to promote public sector investment in agriculture related infrastructure, particularly regarding water, irrigation, electricity and roads through public-private partnership and CALLS UPON Africa based development banks and financial institutions to improve access to soft loans, small loans and grants;

10. CALLS UPON Member States to initiate the implementation of the African Regional Nutrition Strategy and the NEPAD African Nutrition Initiative by 2008 with focus on long-term household food security and ending child hunger and under-nutrition;

11. CALLS UPON the Commission, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Secretariat and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to establish a system for selecting and prioritising key AU and NEPAD Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) related to previous Summit commitments;

12. FURTHER URGES Member States to take ownership of important commitments by way of formalizing and institutionalising them, including making adequate resources available.