Non-State actors to govt: See BR as unique opportunity – NaijaAgroNet

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Agriculture Non-State Actors (NSAs) have urged governments at all levels, especially in Nigeria to use the unique opportunity provided by the Biennial Review to take stock of progress on sectoral transformation, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Ms Constance Okeke of ActionAid International

NSAs who spoke at the weekend during the pre-BR3 launch in Abuja, through the International Project Manager, Public Finance for Agriculture (PFA), ActionAid International, Ms Constance Okeke, said that progress on agricultural transformation, includes through joint sector reviews, to shape the enabling environment through policy, partnerships, resourcing and other measures to accelerate progress towards the 2025 Malabo Declaration goals.

Okeke who spoke on the “Overview of the Malabo Declaration Biennial Review (BR) Report: And how does it work?’ said that it would be better for the development partners and civil society organisations to encourage the government to hold multi-stakeholder fora among others on BR.

As said by her, the BR since inception in 2019 have shown that many countries in Africa made progress toward the Malabo Declaration goals since 2018, with 36 countries showing improvement.

"Taken as a whole however, the pace of progress is too slow, and Africa is not on-track to achieve the goals," she said.

The PFA manager pointed out that BR also indicates acceleration by many countries is required for Africa to become ‘on track’ given the ambition of the goals.

COVID-19, she cited for instance, poses great challenges for agricultural and economic transformation, but also provides an opportunity to strengthen resilience and “build back better.”

Africa’s economies, Okeke said, depend significantly on agriculture and increased political and financial commitment to the sector is key to cushioning Africa’s economy against shocks such as COVID-19, the desert locust emergency, climate change, among others.

“A majority of African countries (38) are not on track to be resilient to climate change and efforts must be stepped up to address its devastating and diverse impacts,” she said, stressing that digital and technological access for all across the agriculture sector in Africa should be significantly accelerated.

On the key messages to assist stakeholders, Ms Okeke pointed out that over 60 per cent of all working women in Africa are in agriculture and called for a redress of the gender inequality, which she said would be highly effective in the fight against hunger, poverty and malnutrition, and promotes economic growth.

Remmy Nweke/DoP