FAO and COMESA agree to join forces in rural transformation
20 November 2014, Lusaka - FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa Mr. David Phiri and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Assistant Secretary General (Programmes) Ambassador Dr. Kipyego Cheluget met to discuss areas of common interest.
“FAO is already collaborating very well with COMESA under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and we wish for these relations to be strengthened even further, allowing for more interaction between the two organizations”, said Mr. Phiri. COMESA has been mandated to implement and coordinate CAADP implementation in Eastern and Southern African region.
Also present at the meeting was Mr. Thierry Mutombo Kaloji; the COMESA Director; Investment and Private Sector Development. He highlighted other successful partnerships such as a recent agreement with the Africa Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) aimed at spurring increased usage of fertilizer among smallholder farmers as a trigger for rural transformation; In additional, the four pillars under CAADP are also areas to further discussion’’ said Mr. Kaloji.
Dr. Phiri acknowledged Conservation Agriculture as another area of good collaboration and that FAO has eight countries being supported by the European Union to scale up CA in the sub region. Conservation Agriculture (CA) is an approach to managing agro-ecosystems for improved and sustained productivity, increased profits and food security while preserving and enhancing the resource base and the environment.
The Ambassador Dr. Cheluget and Mr. Phiri agreed to a joint meeting in early 2015 in Harare, to further develop common programmatic areas of interest between the two organizations.
COMESA is the largest regional economic organization in Africa, with 19 member states and a serving a population of about 390 million.
Contact:
Precious N. Chitembwe | Communications and Reports Officer | Email: [email protected] | FAO - Zambia