“Optimal solutions to problems in Africa are not at national but at a regional level, through continental strategic frameworks such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Programme,” NEPAD Agency CEO Dr Ibrahim Mayaki said.

The CEO delivered yesterday the opening remarks at the AUC-NEPAD CAADP Retreat in the Free State Province in South Africa and urged that the big picture for this meeting is about regional integration. “Fundamentally it is about common problem-solving such as agricultural transformation and shaping a common future,” he emphasised.

The CAADP Retreat draws from the AU Implementation Strategy and Roadmap to achieve the 2014 Malabo Declaration. The implementation strategy and roadmap, which were adopted by African Heads of State and Government at the January AU Summit, will guide African member states and development partners to accelerate agricultural transformation so as to achieve the 2025 vision for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods. Key to the process is the CAADP Results Framework to track progress and ensure accountability of governments starting 2017.

The two-day retreat will define a set of concrete actions to guide country and regional implementation of the Results Framework, which focuses on increased agricultural production, intra-African trade, resilience of livelihoods and strengthening the governance of land, water and other natural resources.

AUC Head of Division for Rural Economy, Dr Janet Edeme reiterated that the Retreat’s objective will be on translating the Malabo Declaration into actions and detail on how to proceed with the Implementation Strategy and Roadmap for tangible impact and results.

Dr Mayaki urged the African Union Commission and NEPAD CAADP teams to work not as two separate entities, but as one in delivering a common agenda.