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CORAF supports the revision of the Common Agricultural Policy of the Economic Community of Central African States

In Central Africa, the agricultural sector accounts for over 20% of economic growth. With a view to fostering the resilience of agricultural systems in the sub-region by 2040, CORAF organized a regional conference from January 16 to 18, 2024, to update the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and its operational instrument, the Regional Program for Investment in Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition (PRIASAN). The event was organized in collaboration with the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Hub RuRal.

The aim was for the various stakeholders to take stock of the CAP's implementation, analyze the outlook for 2040 and propose a new ECCAS Common Agricultural Policy for 2040, accompanied by a 15-year regional action and investment plan.

As part of its mission to support the definition and implementation of national and regional agricultural policies, CORAF supports this initiative to revise the ECCAS CAP, which will also strengthen its cooperation with sub-regional organizations and reinforce its redeployment in Central Africa.

During the conference, CORAF presented the state of play and prospects for the development of technologies and innovations for the resilience of agricultural systems in Central Africa. It is important to emphasize that Central Africa has under-exploited potential in the agricultural sector, in terms of production, processing and marketing.

" The results and prospects for the development of technologies and innovations for the resilience of agricultural systems in Central Africa are promising, but require the ongoing commitment of all parties and multi-stakeholder collaboration," insisted Dr Alioune FALL, CORAF's interim Executive Director, during his presentation.

" Each country has its own agricultural development strategy. We need to sit down and pool all our experience and knowledge, while taking into account the commitments made by the Heads of State in terms of sustainable development, the Malabo Declaration and Africa's Agenda 2063. We need to integrate all these commitments, and include the new challenges of climate change, population resilience, and the use of the results of science, technology and innovation ", insisted Gabriel MBAIROBE, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER) of the Republic of Cameroon, during the conference.

The meeting also highlighted the importance of integrating the different commitments and concerns of the various stakeholders.

" It ' s about having a common agricultural policy that is inclusive because we had a common agricultural policy approved in 2015 with implementation difficulties. The idea of this conference is to involve all stakeholders, including producers, the private sector, civil society and scientific players, because to be sustainable, we need to rely on science in order to have a robust agricultural policy," recalled Dr Ângela Maria P. Barreto Da Veiga MORENO, President of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) Commission, who was present at the conference.

With a view to promoting food security and sovereignty in Central Africa, this regional meeting adopted a long-term agricultural development strategy focused on accelerating economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction.