2025 target set for Africa hunger

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) under the auspices of the Joint Secretariat Support Office (JSSO) have launched the agriculture and food security joint Thematic Working Group (TWG) on the margins of the Conference on Land Policy in Africa which began in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire on Monday, November 25 and will end tomorrow, the 29^th.

The purpose of this initiative is to enhance the strategic partnership to accelerate Africa’s transformation and it will also serve for information and knowledge sharing.

The TWG for agriculture and food security will focus its work mainly on supporting African countries and regional economic commissions (RECs) to roll out the Common Africa Agro-Parks (CAAPS) and Staple Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs).

Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, AUC Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, disclosed that “by 2025, if we can have 70% of the hunger on the continent ended, it will be a great thing,” and added that “the TWG which is bringing together the ECA, AfDB and AU is the best way forward to really achieve our objectives.”

Stephen Karingi, Director, ECA Regional Integration Division, also lauded the initiative and linked it to the African Continental Free Trade Act, saying, "We can’t have a successful AfCFTA without agriculture and food security.”

The TWG will focus on coordination of seed systems development, Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones and Common Africa Agro-Parks, food safety laboratories and Food Safety Agency, access to agricultural mechanization services for women, and African Land Policy Reform.