Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources ECOWAP/CAADP 2025 Process
Technical Monitoring Group meeting for the analysis of the first version of the methodological guide for the 2nd generation NAIPs and RAIP drafting process
Accra – 26/27 April 2016
Summary of Conclusions and recommendations
With the technical facilitation of:
In partnership with and financial, logistical and technical support from:
In collaboration with:
2
I. introduction
1. The workshop of the regional Technical Monitoring Group on the National Agricultural Investment Plans (NAIPs) and Regional Agricultural Investment Plan (RAIP) revision process, in the context of the operationalization of the Malabo Declaration on the transformation of African agriculture, was held on 26 and 27 April 2016 in Accra, Ghana, at the initiative of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
2. Took part in the workshop,
a. ECOWAS representatives; b. The Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Equipment
of the Republic of Senegal; c. The representative of the African Union Commission and NEPAD Agency; d. Representatives of the four stakeholder groups, i.e., PO, private sector,
Gender Network and civil society (POSCAO); e. Representatives of technical support institutions: CILSS, CORAF/WECARD,
FAO, IFPRI, ReSAKSS, AFRICARICE, SWAC-‐‑OECD Secretariat, Hub Rural; f. The leader of the ECOWAP Donors' Group; g. Invited structures: ARAA, and TU/AGIR, African Youth Initiative on
Climate Change (AFRI.YOCC).
3. Presided over by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Equipment (SG/MAER)of Senegal, the overall objective of the workshop was to prepare the meeting of the Steering Committee of the 2nd generation NAIPs and RAIP development process and the inception workshop with Member States and the various categories of stakeholders, to be held late in May 2016 in Abidjan. Specifically, the workshop aimed at:
• SO1.Amending and adopting the draft methodological guide of the 2nd
generation NAIPs and RAIP drafting process; • OS2. Linking the West African process with the implementation strategy
and roadmap to achieving Vision 2025 of the African Union (Malabo Declaration);
• SO3. Building a joint plan in support of the countries and the ECOWAS Commission, involving the various technical support institutions; ;
• SO4: Establishing a roadmap for the West African process; • S05: Analysing the draft introductory note to and agenda of the regional
workshop in late May in Abidjan. II. Introductory ceremony
4. Five speeches were delivered at the introductory ceremony. a. The HUB RURAL Executive Director whose institution was mandated by
ECOWAS to facilitate the process first welcomed the presence of all
3
stakeholders, including ECOWAS, USAID and the SG/MAER of Senegal. He then stressed the issues at stake for the workshop, which falls within the global context of the Malabo Declaration guidelines implementation, under the leadership of the African Union Commission, the NEPAD Agency and ECOWAS as far as the West Africa region is concerned.
b. The CAADP Focal Point of the Republic of Ghana first conveyed to participants the welcoming message of the Ghanaian authorities, before stressing the importance of agriculture in the economies of West African States. The implementation of the Malabo Declaration is a collective and basic responsibility of our States and the ECOWAS. Therefore, the issues and challenges must be properly identified in order to suggest appropriate solutions. This workshop to analyse the methodology guide for the NAIPs and RAIP revision provides a singular opportunity to the region to define approaches through which it will effectively address the problems and constraints undermining agricultural development in West African States.
c. The Donor Group's representative stressed the interest that USAID -‐‑
which is currently coordinating the ECOWAP Donor Group -‐‑ has been expressing since 2003, for the region to be endowed with a consensual agricultural policy. He praised the ECOWAS leadership and reiterated the USAID's commitment to continue and strengthen its technical and financial support for agricultural development in the West African region.
d. The ECOWAS Commissioner for Agriculture, Environment and Water
Resources first conveyed the greetings from His Excellency, Mr. Marcel de SOUZA, the President of the Commission, to His Excellency, Mr. Dramani Mahamane, President of the Republic of Ghana for the facilities made available to the workshop participants. He then recalled the challenges facing the meeting and the tasks assigned to the Technical Group in the process of revising the investment plans in the context of the Malabo Declaration. He praised the efforts of the Republic of Senegal which helped the ECOWAS Commission to fully assume the leadership of the revision process of agricultural investment plans. He then thanked the USAID authorities, the AU Commission, the NEPAD Agency, HUB RURAL and Africa Lead for their multifaceted support to the ECOWAS Commission.
e. In his opening speech of the workshop, Dr Dogo SECK, Secretary General
of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Equipment of the Republic of Senegal, first paid tribute, on behalf of his Minister, Dr. Papa Abdoulaye SECK, to Africa's Heads of State for their foresight and commitment to the development of the continent's agricultural sector. He focused lengthily on the issues and challenges of agricultural development before stressing the achievements of policies and strategies deployed over the past decade. To that end, he invited participants to draw inspiration, as part of the revision process of agricultural investment plans, from experiences that produce meaningful results like the Programme d’Accélération de la
4
Cadence de l’Agriculture Sénégalaise (PRACAS)(Programme to Accelerate Agriculture Growth rate in Senegal)which implements the agricultural vision of His Excellency, Mr. Macky SALL, President of the Republic of Senegal, as defined in the Plan Sénégal Emergent (PSE) (Plan to make Senegal an Emerging country). The Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Equipment of Senegal called the region to focus efforts and intensify actions on accelerating the West African agricultural transformation. He then stressed the main objective of the workshop, which is to provide the regional stakeholders with a consensual guide for reviewing the agricultural investment plans, taking into account the achievements, the current context and the pressing demand from both the populations and the States. He ended his statement by inviting participants to give the maximum of themselves in order to achieve the objectives of this meeting and declared the workshop opened.
III. Progress of workshop
5. Proceedings took place as per the adopted agenda, under the chairmanship of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Equipment of Senegal. They were marked by presentations followed by discussions at the end of which the main conclusions have been drawn and relevant recommendations made.
6. The first session was devoted to presenting (i) the operational Guide for national implementation of CAADP under the Malabo Declaration, (ii) the manual on the biennial review cycle of the Malabo Declaration. These presentations highlighted the major stages, on the one hand, and activities to be conducted and their arrangement between the national, regional and continental level, on the other hand.
7. Participants raised several concerns regarding the technical and financial
feasibility of the proposed approach, the role and place of the various stakeholders in the process at its different phases. On this last point, participants were concerned about the inadequate respect for the principle of subsidiarity between the NEPAD Agency and the Regional Economic Communities (REC), the insufficient involvement of the private sector and gender in the implementation strategies, including in financing the agricultural sector. Finally, the participants advised caution in the number of working groups to set up as their management may be time consuming for the AUC/NPCA facilitation team.
8. The second series of presentations was dedicated to the NAIPs and RAIP revision guide. The guide emphasizes the context at different scales, the steps of the approach (8 of them), and activities to undertake. The guide does not include the phases of implementation and monitoring-‐‑evaluation. The concerns or comments made by participants towards improving the guide focused mainly on:
a. The financial and technical feasibility of the approach; b. The poor consideration of gender, despite the formalization of a group
dedicated to this dimension;
5
c. The place of the private sector in the financing for agricultural development policy, plans and programmes;
d. The need to take the current formulation dynamics of AGIR country resilience priorities (CRP) into account and particularly the integration of the adopted CRPs into the new NAIPs;
e. The funding issue and more generally, of policy instruments and particularly the concern to maintain the participatory and inclusive process, while maintaining the costs within reasonable limits;
f. Taking into account all categories of actors, as well as using existing consultation mechanisms within the process management bodies, at national and regional levels;
g. The need for better coordination between the RAIP and NAIPs; although the two processes are taking place at the same time, provide for bridges/sequences where the RAIP will capitalize on the NAIP process in order to address crosscutting challenges to all countries and that must be dealt with at the regional level, etc.
9. The third series of presentations was made by stakeholders and institutions on the forms of support they can provide to the States and the ECOWAS Commission under the NAIP and RAIP revision process.
10. The following stakeholders spoke successively: a. The private sector, which pledged to help raise awareness of operators
and investors on the scope and issues of the process; b. The youth, who promised to take ownership of the process and to make
concrete proposals for action at the different stages of the process; c. The Gender Group, which recalled the diagnostic elements of the situation
of women in agriculture, before insisting on the need for greater consideration of this dimension in the new NAIPs and RAIP;
d. The Civil society recalled actions that member organisations have undertaken on issues of policy harmonization and coherence. It offered to support the other stakeholders, States and the ECOWAS Commission on watch-‐‑keeping actions on policy consistency and communications on actions carried out under the CAADP process in West Africa;
e. The CILSS representative recalled the prerogatives of this technical institution and reiterated the availability of this organisation to continue supporting the process as in the previous phase, in specific areas such as: (i) strengthening of information systems, (ii) food and nutrition security, (iii)strategies for adaptation to climate change;
f. The AGIR Sahel and West Africa Technical Unit offered to make available
to the stakeholders all achievements as regards the approach, coordination and results of the Country resilience priorities formulation process;
g. The Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat offered to make available to
the region the results of fundamental studies it has conducted on certain topics, which can be used to better understand agricultural development issues and challenges in West Africa. The Club promised to support (i)
6
quality control of plans, (ii) communication on the process, at regional level, (iii) the participation in the process for some countries' AGIR Focal Points;
h. The Networks of producer organisations presented a mini action plan to
strengthen the capacities of actors for greater involvement of producers, pastoralists and herders in the NAIPs and RAIP revision process;
i. FAO stressed the multifaceted support it can provide to the region and the States at different stages of the process. It laid emphasis on the actions already conducted in the three post-‐‑Ebola countries (Guinea, Liberia and Sierra-‐‑Leone);
a. IFPRI and ReSAKSS pledged their support for at least three levels: the
thorough evaluation of the first generation NAIPs, modelling agricultural development options in general, and opportunities for achieving the various Malabo objectives, especially at national and regional level; support for the operationalization of the monitoring and evaluation system. Finally, these actions will be coupled with ongoing efforts to develop a programme in post-‐‑Ebola countries;
b. In addition to supporting the diagnosis of agricultural development issues
and challenges, CORAF/WECARD stressed the availability of innovative technology that is at the disposal of the regional actors to accelerate the region's agriculture transformation.
11. The discussions highlighted the existence of conditions and capacity skills to facilitate the acceleration of the NAIPs and RAIP revision process. However, the stakeholders raised the issue of funding the support that regional institutions will provide for the revision process of the two categories of plan.
12. The fourth session was devoted to the analysis of public policy instruments. Two introductory presentations were made:
a. The FAO recalled the core functions and the different types of public policy instruments often implemented. The analysis has drawn partly on the EU and SADC experience;
b. HUB RURAL insisted on the experience ECOWAS has been deploying in the framework, not only of the regional agricultural policy, but also of other sectoral policies, before emphasizing precautions to take to deploy appropriate public policy instruments as part of the 2nd generation agricultural investment plans..
13. The ECOWAS Director of Agriculture presented the draft agenda of the regional workshop in Abidjan. This workshop, which will take place from 30 May to 2 June 2016, focuses on six objectives:
a. Integrate the regional approach into the AUC/NPCA agenda; b. Draw lessons from the regional joint review of the agricultural sector;
7
c. Develop ideas for a strategy for better integration of public policy instruments;
d. Amend and adopt the guide for the agricultural investment plans revision; e. Adopt a joint plan in support of countries and the Commission; ; f. Adopt a roadmap of the NAIPs and RAIP revision process.
14. A draft roadmap covering a period of 12 months and leading to the finalization of
the process in June 2017 was submitted to the appreciation of participants. IV. Recommendations
15. At the end of the discussions, the participants made the following recommendations, after praising the quality of the background documents prepared by ECOWAS and HUB RURAL, and the presentations made by the various presenters:
a. For improving the content of the Guide i. Enhance the contextual analysis by incorporating some elements relating not only to trade policies, resilience initiatives, but also functional cross-‐‑sectoral coordinating mechanisms in several countries;
ii. Take better account of the gender dimension in the document;
iii. Streamline the process stages while keeping its participatory and inclusive character, notably by further explaining the activities to be conducted, maximizing the current dynamics, and providing communication actions at various levels.
b. For driving the process
i. The need to seek synergy and better coordination of actions and support made by different stakeholders;
ii. Ensure the strengthening of the States and ECOWAS Commission's (consultation, ownership) leadership of the process;
iii. The need for a broad communication on the process, both nationally and regionally;
iv. Ensure wide participation of regional actors and technical and financial partners in the various activities conducted as part of the process;
v. Invite actors of other regional economic communities (RECs)to
come and share West Africa's experience during the Guide validation workshop and ensure that the workshop benefits from the experience of their regions.
c. On the content of investment plans:
i. Ensure the inclusion of emerging issues (nutrition, climate change, agricultural insurance, social protection), including the issue of resilience in connection with the AGIR dyna:ics underway;
8
ii. Ensure the inclusion of the issues identified during the
ECOWAP+10 review: youth employment, value chains, etc. d. Specify policy instruments to be deployed, including innovative funding
mechanisms to support investment programmes; e. Propose a succinct drafting plan of the investment plans to facilitate
comparison of documents;
V. Closing ceremony
16. The workshop closing ceremony was marked by three speeches: a. The CAADP Focal Point of the Republic of Ghana dwelt on the quality of
the results achieved during the two-‐‑day work. He promised to make a truthful report to the authorities of the Republic of Ghana in general and the Minister in charge of agriculture in particular;
b. The ECOWAS Commissioner in charge of Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources thanked the participants for the good job well done. He commended the quality of the expertise and invited all stakeholders to work for the respect of the time limits consensually approved for conducting the review process of the two categories of plans;
c. The Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Equipment
of Senegal, first thanked the President, the Government and People of Ghana for the hospitality they have extended to participants; to USAID authorities for facilitating the holding of the meeting; the AU Commission and NEPAD Agency for agreeing to take part in the meeting; to the ECOWAS Commission and the Executive Directorate of HUB RURAL for the quality of the working papers. He said he was animated by the feeling that the necessary conditions are met to accelerate the pace of West African agriculture development.
d. For the next steps, particularly the Abidjan meeting, he recommended considering the possibility of preparing it properly through consultations at the State level, in order to optimise the time and duration of the meeting. Finally, he wished participants a safe journey back to their respective countries, before declaring the workshop closed.
Done in Accra, on 27 April 2016
