Measuring Progress in Agricultural Transformation
CAADP Second Biennial Review — What are the relevant topics for the PPARD working group?
Photo: Part of the report cover
The Second Biennial Review Report launched in February at the African Union General Assembly, builds on the efforts of the first round (2017) and tracks the performance of the continent towards a fully transformed agricultural sector. This mutual accountability process was agreed on in 2014 in the African Union’s Malabo Declaration.
Relevant topics for PPARD WG addressed in the report
- Nutrition
- Land Rights
- Trade
- Sustainable Land Management
- Youth and Women in Agricultural Value Chains
- Climate Change.
Assessment
On a very positive note, it can be said that the commitment on “Boosting Intra-African Trade in Agriculture Commodities and Services” is the only commitment for which the whole country is on average “on-track” (29 member states). This is especially interesting in the context of the AfCFTA.
Equally striking is the bad availability of data on youth and gender. Several Member States were unable to report on some indicators because they did not have the data in their national agricultural systems. For example, only nineteen and twenty-two Member States were able to report on reduction of post-harvest losses, and the proportion of women who were empowered in agriculture, respectively.
Results concerning “Enhancing Resilience to climate variability” are mixed. The results of this core topic of the report can be seen as a warning sign of devastating effects of climate change on agriculture.
A total of 47 AU Member States, compared with 44 Member States in the inaugural report, have reported progress along 47 indicators — 4 more than in the inaugural report. Of these, 36 Member States registered positive progress compared with their scores in 2017. This reflects efforts by the Member States to address the shortfalls revealed in the inaugural report.
However, only 4 Member States obtained or surpassed the benchmark of 6.66 required to be on track for this round compared with a benchmark of 3.94 for the previous reporting period. These 4 outstanding Member States are: Rwanda (7.24), Morocco (6.96), Mali (6.82) and Ghana (6.67).
The average score for the whole of Africa, based on the 49 country reports, is 4.03, which indicates that the continent is again not “on-track” towards meeting the CAADP/Malabo commitments by 2025.
We should collectively sustain the momentum, undertake bolder and deeper initiatives to accelerate the rate of progress, and ensure that agriculture contributes to the goals and targets set by Heads of State and Government by 2025.
IFPRI Reports
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) conducted a range of in-depth studies in nine African countries to assess the status of the national agricultural sector, identify opportunities and provide recommendations for policy development towards an improved performance of the agricultural sector. These opportunities and recommendations include an extensive selection of cross-country best practices on different sub-topics such as trade, value chain development, food security and nutrition, gender, climate-smart agriculture, ATVET, policy planning and accountability.
Based on country demand, the countries covered by these reports were Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Gabon, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The reports give an overview of National Agricultural Investment Plans (NAIPs) and highlight that several nationwide and agricultural- sector-wide development policies, strategies and plans coexist at a given time, and that adequacy, coherence and consistency of this policy mix is crucial in ensuring a successful implementation of NAIPs.
Downloads
- The African Union’s Interactive CAADP Biennial Review Toolkit shows the detailed country scorecards for 2017 and 2019 and allows comparisons between countries, regions and along commitments.
- The Second Biennial Review Report
