The 18th Continental Steering Committee (CSC) meetings of the African Union Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative (EOAI) was held at the Sarova White sands Beach Resort and Spa in Mombasa, Kenya. The series of meetings kicked off on Saturday 3rd and ended on Friday 9th December 2022 and included meetings by the CSC Technical Committee, the Main Steering Committee, and a series of specialized meetings of the various Technical Working Groups (TWGs) of the CSC.
The Technical Committee was chaired by Ms.Wezi Chunga-Sambo (AUC) on behalf of Dr Simplice Nouala, Head of Food Security and Agriculture Division, Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy
Sustainable Environment (DARBE) at the AUC.The chair thanked the development partners including SDC, GIZ and SSNC for supporting the agenda of EOA in Africa. Dr Simplice chaired the Steering Committee which was held on Monday 5th December 2022.The committee adopted various key decisions, actions and resolutions discussed and recommended by the technical committee.
The Chair noted that within the context of the African Union’s year of Nutrition which was launched by the AU Assembly in February 2022, the current CSC meeting was to be held on the margins of the 18th CAADP
Partnership Platform Meeting from November 28th to December 2nd, 2022,in Johannesburg South Africa under the theme,- “Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture: A pathway to strengthening resilience of agro-food systems on the continent.” Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances the CAADP PP meeting was held virtually. Dr Nouala appreciated the Steering Committee members who had participated in the virtual 18th CAADP PP and the Malabo Policy Learning Event (MAPLE)held the previous week. He further noted that addressing Ecological Organic Agriculture within the broader context of the CAADP Biennial Review (CAADP-BR) process is a major milestone in achieving the aspirations of EOA initiative.
In the 4th BR Cycle, progress status on three indicators of EOA will be reported on by all AU Member States. This data will enable tracking of ‘ Member States’ progress towards achieving the Malabo Declaration, Agenda 2063 – The “Africa we Want” and other global aspirations such as Sustainable Development Goals. The Chair underscored this progress as a clear demonstration of AU’s commitment to Ecological Organic Agriculture and
building further on the signing of the MOU between the AUC and Biovision Africa Trust ,as host to the EOA Continental Secretariat.
The current political environment is therefore opportune for the EOA Initiative to advance by imploring EOA partners to ensure that they take advantage of this conducive environment to advance the EOA initiative including tapping into the outcomes of the UN Food Systems Summit whose Action Track 3 on “Boosting Nature-Positive Production” is perfectly aligned to the Initiative.
The CSC has called on all partners to ensure efforts in strengthening national, regional and continental structures which are key in implementing EOA across Africa. Further, the CSC tasked the Secretariat to ensure that Regional EOAI Clusters and Steering Committees are functional and that national Chapters are properly engaged and equipped with information to advocate for policy change and programmatic implementation in their countries.
The CSC emphasized the need for all stakeholders to stand together to advance this common cause and called on governments, development partners, and the private sector to support in availing resources to take advantage of the current global and continental focus on sustainable food production systems.
Prepared by the EOA Continental Secretariat