The 18th Continental Steering Committee (CSC) meetings of the African Union Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative (EOAI) has been held at the Sarova White sands Beach Resort and Spa in Mombasa, Kenya. The series of meetings kicked off on Saturday 3rd and ends on Friday 9th December 2022 and include sub meetings by the CSC Technical Committee, Main Steering Committee and a series of specialized meetings of the various expert Technical Working Groups (TWGs) of the Committee. The meeting was hybrid, having some members attend virtually.
The Technical Committee was chaired by Ms Wezi Chunga-Sambo (AUC) on behalf of Dr Simplice Nouala, Head of Food Security and Agriculture Division, Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy Sustainable Environment (DARBE) at the AUC. The Chair commented the AU Secretariat managed by Biovision Africa Trust for the work being on behalf of the EOA Initiative. He thanked the development partners including SDC, GIZ and SSNC for supporting the agenda of EOA in Africa. Dr Simplice chaired the Steering Committee which was held on Monday 5th December 2022. The committee adopted various key decisions, recommends actions and resolutions on key issues recommended by the Technical Committee and from further deliberations.
The Chair noted that within the context of the African Union’s year of Nutrition as launched by the AU Assembly in February 2022, the current CSC meeting was to be held on the margins of the 18th CAADP Partnership Platform Meeting from 28 November to 2 December 2022 in Johannesburg South Africa under the theme,- “Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture: A pathway to strengthening resilience of agro-food systems on the continent.” Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances the CAADP PP meeting was held virtually. Dr Nouala noted pleasure for the Steering Committee members who participated in the virtual 18th CAADP PP and the Malabo Policy Learning Event (MAPLE). He further noted that addressing Ecological Organic Agriculture within the broader context of the CAADP Biennial Review (CAADP-BR) process is a major milestone of EOA initiative endorsement.
In the 4th BR Cycle, progress status on three indicators of EOA will be reported on by all AU Member States. This data will enable to track Member States’ progress towards achieving the Malabo Declaration, Agenda 2063 – The “Africa we Want” and other global aspirations such as Sustainable Development Goals. The Chair underscored this progress as a clear demonstration of AU’s commitment to Ecological Organic Agriculture and building further on the signing of MOU between AUC and Biovision Africa Trust as host to the EOA Continental Secretariat.
The current political environment is therefore opportune for the EOA Initiative to advance by imploring EOA partners to ensure that they take advantage of this conducive environment to advance the EOA initiative including tapping into the outcomes of the UN Food Systems Summit whose Action Track 3 on “Boosting Nature-Positive Production” is perfectly aligned to the Initiative.
The CSC has called on all partners to ensure efforts in strengthening national, regional and continental structures which are key in implementing EOA across Africa. Further, the CSC tasked the Secretariat to ensure that Regional EOAI Clusters and Steering Committees are functional and that the national Chapters are properly engaged and equipped with information to advocate for policy change and programmatic implementation in their countries.
The CSC emphasized the need for all stakeholders to stand together to advance this common goal and called on governments, development partners, and the private sector to support in availing resources to take advantage of the current global and continental focus on sustainable food production systems.
Prepared by the EOA Continental Secretariat