TANZANIA is one of the African countries that has adopted the famous Malabo declaration, particularly in terms of implementing all of the declaration’s National Agriculture Investment Plans (NAIPs).
This was stated by the Ministry of Agriculture during the Malabo Policy Learning Event (MAPLE), which began on Monday of this week via video conference and was attended by various stakeholders from across the continent.
According to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) focal point in the Ministry of Agriculture in Tanzania, Ms Adella Ng’atigwa, the implementation framework for the programme was based on the country’s special agricultural programme dubbed Agricultural Sector Development Programme II (ASDP II), despite the policy and strategic statements which include among others the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP/MKUKUTA) and the Zanzibar Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (ZSGRP/MKUZA).
Others, according to her, are Agriculture First (KILIMO KWANZA) and the Agricultural Transformation Initiative (ATI) for Zanzibar, the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy (ASDS) and Programme (ASDP) for Mainland Tanzania and the Agricultural Strategic Plan (ASP) for Zanzibar; and Tanzania’s agenda to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and various sub-sector policies, strategies and programmes.
The new development came during the stakeholders meeting in the agriculture sector, who among other issues called for a coordinated approach in the implementation of the Malabo Declaration in efforts to end hunger and increase food security in the African continent.
The stakeholders were speaking in Dodoma during a five-day event that was followed directly by several smallholder farmers meetings from the country’s capital, Dodoma majority of them from Chamwino district. The event in Dodoma was coordinated by ActionAid Tanzania.
At the meeting, stakeholders including Special Seats Lawmaker, Neema Lugangira, who represented all Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the country seconded the move by the government in implementing the Malabo declaration, adding that Members of Parliament were at the forefront in pushing for the implementation of the declaration.
The MP said President Samia Suluhu Hassan was fully committed to ensuring that the budget for the Ministry of Agriculture was boosted to meet the requirements of the Malabo Declaration.
African Union Commission (AUC) Director of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Godfrey Bahiigwa, said despite the six years of implementation of the Malabo Declaration, there were just a few countries that had domesticated it since its adoption.
The declaration was adopted in 2014 but its official implementation kicked off in 2015.
The Malabo Declaration signed by African governments in 2014 represented a re-commitment to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) principles and goals adopted earlier in 2003 under the Maputo Declaration.
