There are two stories about Africa’s relationship with China The most recurring one claims that Africa is madly in love with China, but that it needs to ‘get real’ and to ‘wake up’ from this unsustainable ‘romance’. The second asserts that Africans are actually allergic to Chinese presence on the continent and that they prefer to stay away from this exploitative partner. Well, frankly both stories are getting a bit old. The Africa of today is neither heads over heals for China, nor does it have an aversion to it. It is in fact increasingly ...
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The 6th Joint United Nations Economic Commission for Africa-African Union Commission meeting of Finance, Planning and Development Ministers met in Abidjan on the 25th and 26th of March. Intensive discussions emphasised the imperative to reverse the economic quagmire of the past decades by focusing on industrialisation as a necessary path towards sustained wealth creation for an emerging Africa. This is a not an option, it is a must if the continent wants to pass the litmus test of successful, sustainable and inclusive structural transformation and drive its population, once and for all, out of the economic ...
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Praise has been won by West Africa for elaborating a regional agricultural policy, the ECOWAP, that could go a long way in promoting food security in the region. However, how this vision ties in with the region’s trade policy is anything but simple – says Quentin de Roquefeuil The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is the one of the few regions in Africa to have an elaborated regional policy for agriculture and food security, the ECOWAP (ECOWAS Agricultural Policy). Implementation has been slow, but it is on track, with thematic working groups fleshing out ...
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This article was co-authored by Jeske van Seters. [updated 27 March 10.00 CET] This blog will be updated with the latest developments during 25-26 March 2013 from the African Union Conference Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Second day and post-PP thoughts: Looking back at the PP after its closing, you could question the added-value of this annual event for the implementation of CAADP and the achievement of results and impact. Does it serve the CAADP purpose or is it a waste of time and money? Seemingly supporting the latter point of view, critical remarks by participants on ...
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This article was co-authored by Brecht Lein and Niels Keijzer (Deutsche Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE). The European Union is committed to policy coherence for development (PCD), and has identified global food security as one of the five key priority areas where EU policies should seek to have a positive impact or at least ‘do no harm’. But EU actors and development stakeholders seem to have difficulty in moving forward on two obviously interlinked questions – without an adequate monitoring mechanism (the “how” question) it is hard to actually prove the development-impact of the CAP (the ...
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++ SERIES: BUILDING THE POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK++ Views from African consultations on the post-2015 development agenda As the date of 2015 approaches, the international community is analysing the results of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were omnipresent in the development debate since 2000. But many are already looking further, beyond the magic date of 2015. Multi-stakeholder consultations are taking place in almost 100 countries worldwide with a view to shape the new development agenda beyond 2015. The information that will be generated through this consultative process should influence the proceedings of the UN International High-Level ...
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++ SERIES: BUILDING THE POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK++ James Mackie co-authored this article. Discussions on the new development framework to replace the Millennium Development Goals after their target date of 2015 are well under way. Today, the European Commissioners for Environment and for Development presented a joint Communication outlining a proposal for an EU position on the post-2015 agenda. The EU wants to achieve ‘A Decent Life for All’, as the document’s title suggests. This European position comes fairly late in the day for the UN High-Level Panel on post-2015. Yet as Development Commissioner Piebalgs is one ...
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Barriers to trade in agricultural goods: let’s focus on solutions, not on problems
Account of the “Food Across Borders” conference in West Africa West Africa has far-reaching commitments to promote intra-regional trade. The Economic Community of West African States’ trade liberalization scheme, launched back in 1990, provides for the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers between the region’s 15 member states. Also the regional agricultural policy, adopted in 2005, reflects this ambition, the regionalization of agricultural and food products is at its core. Both frameworks should contribute to food sovereignty and food security in West Africa, particularly through enhanced cross-border trade between food abundant and food deficit areas. ...
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Reflections from the Annual General Assembly of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development No doubt certain countries in the world, especially those in Africa, need to gain more reliable access to food in order to fight hunger. No doubt this requires increasing production and productivity in agriculture, as well as better integration of regional agricultural markets. No doubt the role of donors in supporting such efforts is important. But is food security just about producing more food, or about eating well? Are policy makers asking the ‘right questions’? Donors working on food security met ...
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The EU’s “comprehensive approach” in external action policy has provoked a range of responses – but the most widespread seems to be confusion. Ask 10 people from across the EU institutions to define the comprehensive approach and chances are you’ll get 10 different answers. While the basic premise is simple enough to grasp, it’s hard to find consensus, common language or any sense that the EU is actually acting comprehensively. Current developments in Mali have made the necessity for clarity even more pressing. This blog seeks to explore the key questions needed to frame the ...
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