Kampala – The Extraordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which started on 9th January, in the Ugandan capital, closed on Saturday afternoon with the adoption of the Kampala Declaration plus the 2026-2035 Strategy and Action Plan.
The summit was chaired by the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, in his capacity as vice chair of the African Union (AU) Assembly Meetings, in representation of his Mauritania counterpart who is the Acting Chairman of the African Union.
In the closing ceremony, President João Lourenço recognised the advances recorded in the CAADP, stressing that in spite of that there was some progress in the agricultural sector in the continent.
The African Union Extraordinary Summit on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme was attended by presidents of various African countries or their representatives, as well as experts in agriculture (forestry, fisheries and livestock), rural development, water and environment.
The Heads of State Summit was preceded by two ministerial meetings, namely one involving the ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Waters and Environment, as well as the second one involving also the ministers of Foreign Affairs.
On the fringes of the summit, there was a meeting of young people and women that discussed the challenges of agriculture in the African continent.
CAADP has been a key framework for transforming agriculture in Africa since its launch in 2003 with the Maputo Declaration, where African leaders committed to allocating at least 10% of public spending to agriculture to achieve a 6% annual growth rate in agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The programme is in line with the Agenda 2063 of the African Union, an organization created on May 26, 2002, when its Constitutive Act came into force, replacing the Organization of African Unity (OAU) created in 1963.
Currently, the continental organization brings together 55 African countries. HM/QCB/jmc
