AUC, ECA, AfDB Launch Agriculture, Food Security Joint TWG

ENA November 26/2019 The African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the African Development Bank (AfDB) launched the agriculture and food security joint Thematic Working Group (TWG).

The three organizations launched the TWG under the auspices of the Joint Secretariat Support Office (JSSO) on the margins of the Conference on Land Policy in Africa holding in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

According to a press release sent to ENA, the purpose of the initiative is enhancing strategic partnership to accelerate Africa’s transformation and will serve as a platform for information and knowledge sharing.

 The Thematic Working Group for agriculture and food security will focus its work mainly on supporting African countries and regional economic commissions (RECs) to rollout the common Africa Agro-Parks (CAAPS) and Staple Agro-industrial processing zones (SAPZs) initiatives.

Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union, Josefa Sacko, said “By 2025, if we can have 70 percent of ending the hunger on the continent, it will be a great thing.”

“The joint thematic working group that is bringing together ECA, AfDB and the AU is the best way forward to really achieve our objectives,” she added.

Regional Integration and Trade Division Director at UNECA, Stephen Karingi praised the initiative and linked to the focus area on the African Continental Free Trade Area noting, "We can’t have a successful AfCFTA without agriculture and food security”.

The thematic working group will focus on areas of coordination of seed systems development, special Agro-Industrial processing zones and Common African Agro-Parks, Food Safety Laboratories and Food Safety Agency, access to Agricultural Mechanization Services for Women and African Land Policy Reform.