PRESS RELEASE

-Agriculture and food security central to success of pillars like the Common Market – Minister
-Partner States urged to increase budget allocation to agriculture sector

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania: Wednesday 2 December 2009: The Second Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Agriculture and Food Security was today held in Arusha, Tanzania where EAC Partner State Ministers responsible for Agriculture considered and made recommendations on various matters relating to agriculture, livestock and food security in the region.

The one-day meeting, held at the EAC Secretariat headquarters, was chaired by Hon. Stephen Wasira, Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives of the United Republic of Tanzania. It was also attended by Hon. Annet Kalibata, Minister for Agriculture and Animal Resources of the Republic of Rwanda; Hon. Hafsa Mossi, Minister for EAC Affairs from the Republic of Burundi (representing the Agriculture Minister); Hon. Gideon Ndambuki, Assistant Minister Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kenya; Hon. Fred Mukisa, Minister of State for Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries of the Republic of Uganda. The respective Permanent Secretaries or their representatives, Mr Jean Claude Nsengiyumva, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors and Senior Officials from all the Partner States and the EAC Secretariat also attended.
 
In his opening remarks, Hon. Wasira described the meeting as a “unique one”, held when the Community has achieved another important milestone – the signing of EAC Common Market Protocol. He observed that the implementation of the Common Market will not be achieved if the people of EAC are hungry and not able to feed themselves.

Said the Honourable Minister: “Let’s be reminded that the freedoms  of the Common Market, be it movement of  persons, capital, labour, and all services will only be achieved if the major contributor of the economies of the EAC Partner States is achieved – that is agriculture and food  security.”

He noted however that through the EAC, the instruments towards arriving at food security in the region were in place and only needed the region’s unified efforts to realise the set objectives.

EAC Deputy Secretary General Mr Nsengiyumva noted that the meeting was timely, even if it was coming against a backdrop of global challenges affecting the sector, notably the food and financial crises. He however said that efforts were being made to address these challenges at Partner State and EAC level, citing as an example the EAC Food Security Action Plan that is being developed.

Partner States urged to increase budget allocation to agriculture sector
Among the items considered at the meeting were progress reports on the establishment of the EAC System of Early Warning to Monitor Food Security; development of an EAC Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Protocol; implementation of the Strengthening Trade at Regional Level in Agricultural Inputs in Africa Project (STAR Project); and ongoing efforts aimed at prevention and control of human and animal transboundary diseases. The ministers also directed the Secretariat to work with Partner States to develop common disease control and management strategies for the H1N1 virus.

The ministers urged Partner States to increase their budget allocation to agriculture sector to the level proposed under CAADP Maputo Declaration (at least 10% of the national budget) as part of the overall implementation of EAC’s Agriculture and Rural Development Policy and Strategy. They further directed the Secretariat to draft an action plan for the implementation of an EAC Summit directive to hold a special Food Security and Climate Change summit. The summit is expected to take place next year.

The Sectoral Council also approved and recommended an application by the East African Farmers’ Federation to be granted observer status. The application will, along with all the other recommendations of the Sectoral Council, be submitted to the Council of Ministers for consideration.