Day for Food and Nutrition drives CAADP momentum for a hunger-free Africa

The 5^th Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security is being commemorated on the theme “Accelerated action for a hunger free Africa”.

This year’s celebration opened in Kinshasa with a call for enhanced efforts to fight hunger and malnutrition in Africa.

It is organized by the African Union Commission, in collaboration with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and United Nations Agencies.

The event is to cultivate collective responsibility toward increasing sustainable access to safe, nutritious and healthy foods through increased trade amongst Africa’s countries.

In addition, it seeks to share knowledge and motivate the adoption and scaling up of best practices and quick-win food and nutrition security actions and programmes.

Speaking during the official opening, AUC’s Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Mrs. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace said, Africa has continued to experience worsening episodes of under-nutrition, vulnerability to famines and harrowing statistics of stunting.

 

“It takes action to accelerate ending hunger within a decade from now,” she said. “This is why our Heads of State and Government at their Summit in Malabo committed to upholding the values and principles set by the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which includes enhancing public and private investment in agriculture; ending hunger and halving poverty by 2025 and boosting intra African trade in agriculture commodities.”

These are efforts that have to be strategically implemented to ensure sustainable growth and development in the agricultural sector in Africa, Mrs. Tumusiime underscored.

DRC’s Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Jean Mukesyayira, said, “We are transforming Congolese agriculture from subsistence to commercial to secure a variety of food enough for all, to guarantee food and nutrition security.”

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representative in DRC, Mr. Ndiafa Gueye, also called for enhanced acceleration of actions to rid Africa of hunger and malnutrition.

Efforts of the 5^th ADFNS are set to increase the CAADP momentum and contribute towards the commitments made in June 2014 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea by Heads of State and Government and to contribute towards the roadmap to reaching the set targets.

The commemoration of the Day drew the participation of high-level leaders from global, regional and national agriculture associations, African and other governments, civil society and farmers’ organizations, the private sector, scientific and research institutions, farmer organizations and development partners.