A forum of smallholders’ farmers, food security experts and other stakeholders have urged the Federal Government to urgently act on the Malabo declaration on agriculture and food security in the interest of national development and diversification from dependant on oil.
They made the call at the Biennial Review (BR) Report Engagement Strategies and Dissemination Meeting of the declaration and Nigerians quest to attain food security, organised by the Action Aid Nigeria (AAN) on Friday in Abuja.
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The African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government in 2003 adopted the Maputo Declaration on CAADP, setting broad targets of six percent annual growth in Agricultural GDP and allocating at least 10 percent of public expenditures to the agric sector.
A report highlighting the performances of AU member nations on the implementation of the Malabo Declaration recognised Ghana, Rwanda, Morocco and Mali among countries that surpassed the benchmark set out for member countries to realise food security and agricultural development target in the continent.
While Nigeria did not meet up with the benchmark and Ghana satisfied the requirement in the last performance evaluation, the report also shows that Rwanda, Morocco and Mali have remained committed to the AU agreement on agricultural productivity since 2017 when the review was inaugurated.
Speaking during BR review, the International Project Manager, Public Finance for Agriculture, ActionAid Nigeria, Ms. Constance Okeke, said that the meeting was to ensure that non-state actors are able to understand the report in order to hold their respective governments more accountable, particularly in driving promises made by the respective governments.
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