Ministerial Communiqué
15 June 2007
During the ongoing Fourth Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)
General Assembly that was held in Johannesburg, the opportunity was taken to
hold a Ministerial Roundtable which was chaired by the Honourable Lulu
Xingwana, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs, with the participation of
Honourable Ernest A Debrah, Minister of Food and Agriculture, Ghana; Honourable
John Karim-Sesay, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sierra
Leone; Honourable Abu Baker Al-Mansour, Secretary General People's Committee of
the Authority of Agriculture, Animal Health and Marine Resources, Libya;
Honourable Paul Smit, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry,
Namibia; Honourable Olifant Mfa, Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Botswana;
Honourable Kibirige-Seibunya Israel, Minister of State for Agriculture, Animal
Industry and Fisheries (Agriculture), Uganda; Honourable Farba Senghor,
Minister of Agriculture, Hydraulic and Food Security, Senegal; Honourable
Rugare Mumbo, Minister of Agriculture of Zimbabwe; and Dr Samba Ly,
Director-General, National Agricultural Research Institute, Niger, representing
the Minister of Agricultural Development of Niger.
Following their deliberations, the Ministers issued the following
communiqué:
Communiqué issued by African Ministers of Agriculture meeting in
Johannesburg on Tuesday, 12 June 2007
We the Ministers of Agriculture assembled at the Fourth General Assembly of
the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), which was held in Sandton
Convention Centre, Johannesburg in the Republic of South Africa from 10 to 16
June 2007 are aware that Africa must position itself to respond to the impacts
of:
* climate change that will have most serious impact on the African continent
and in particular on the rural poor including increasingly uncertain and more
extreme weather events, the loss of water resources and in the spread of human,
livestock and crop diseases
* physical and institutional constraints on intra-African trade in agricultural
raw materials and processed products
* the need for a well structured policy and approach to the production of
biofuels that is consistent with assuring the food and nutrition security in
our nations
* the diversion of food grains to the production of biofuels in major
non-African grain producers which is driving up world grain prices and reducing
stocks from which Africa has traditionally sourced food imports and food
aid
* rising prices of oil and other commodities that will raise the cost of
manufacturing agricultural inputs, agro-processing and farm power
* the failure to conclude the Doha round of negotiation of the World Trade
Organisation and the persistence of subsidies and import tariffs that are
impeding Africa's opportunities for adding value to agricultural raw
materials
* the threat of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), Rift Valley fever and
other zoonotic diseases.
Reconfirm the conviction:
* that vigorous agricultural research is essential to producing the
scientific, technical, economic, policy and socio-cultural changes that are
required for raising rural incomes, improving food security, reducing natural
resource degradation and loss of biodiversity, and increasing Africa's
contribution to world trade;
* that strong national agricultural research systems are the foundations for
national agricultural development and cohesive sub-regional and regional
programmes;
* that the extent of the demands on agricultural research are such that all
research providers should be engaged and encouraged to contribute to maximising
the impact of the total investment from all sources in agricultural research
from their collaborative advantages based on principles of subsidiarity and
participatory decision making
Commit ourselves to:
* promoting the effectiveness of national agricultural research systems
(NARS) and our sub-regional and regional agricultural research
organisations
* ensuring that our agricultural development, research and teaching and
training institutions comply with the FAAP principles
* fulfilling our governments' commitment to invest 10% of our national budgets
in agriculture
* underpinning this investment with the financial resources required to
reinvigorate national agricultural research institutes, including, agricultural
universities and colleges and technical institutes
* ensuring the out-scaling and up-scaling of agricultural research
products
* supporting the sub-regional and regional organisations that belong to our
national agricultural research systems
* reinvigorating tertiary agricultural education to produce technicians,
graduates and postgraduates who are equipped with both international standards
of disciplinary expertise and with the systems skills necessary for successful
participation in advanced agricultural innovation systems capable of addressing
the opportunities and problems outlined above.
We hereby mandate FARA to advocate for the programmes agreed by its
stakeholders at their Fourth General Assembly, to promote networking amongst
its African and non-African stakeholders in accordance with its new Strategic
Plan as shall be amended and agreed by the decision of FARA's General
Assembly.
For further information, please contact:
Anne Starks Acosta
Communications and Public Awareness Specialist â FARA
Tel: +233 21 772823
Cell: +233 242 689092
Fax: +233 21 773676
E-mail: aacosta@fara-africa.org
Issued by: Department of Agriculture
15 June 2007
