Donor Platform - CAADP Donors and Partners meeting

CAADP Donors and Partners meeting

DFIDs John Barrett and DREA Commissioner Rhoda Peace Tumusiime at opening

DFID’s John Barett and AUC Department for Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA) Commissioner Rhoda Peace Tumusiime at opening

Addis Ababa, 6–9 Sep 2009. Organised by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Platform, the meeting brought donors and CAADP institutions together to advance CAADP implementation. Details are available in the complete Agenda.

Meeting objectives:

To deepen awareness on CAADP principles and processes among key donor and government actors, and review recent progress on CAADP at international and country levels;
To discuss and agree on the modalities, including principles and processes, through which donor support for CAADP-type country plans can be mobilised and harmonised with on-going country led initiatives, including defining country processes for joint work on programme design;
To consider the opportunities in the coming months for further significant progress, particularly at country level in terms of donor backing for CAADP compacts;
To consider the practicality of a high level event (for example in the margins of UNGA) at which political backing for a serious and ambitious increase in attention to food security and agricultural development can be cemented.

A Donor Approach to Supporting CAADP

The meeting sought the views of country-level agriculture and food security donor working groups (ADWGs) and other participants on a draft ‘Donor approach to supporting CAADP compacts'. Agreement on this proposal is expected to have far reaching positive impacts on the way donors respond to the call of agriculture in Africa. These were summarised in a presentation by Terri Sarch, Agriculture and Food Security Adviser, DFID Africa Regional Department and CAADP DP Task Team Member, who laid out a series of joint steps that the CAADP DP Task Team have asked donors to commit to:

Addis conference hall

Promote the country-led agricultural planning processes
Work in partnership with CAADP
Build capacity of key stakeholders
Align with the strategy and processes generated by CAADP
Co-finance investment programmes
Jointly monitor and review progress

The approach also proposes a four stage process, adapted to each country’s situation, for action at country level:

Engagement and partnership development
Evidence-based planning
Building alliances for investment
Programme implementation, M&E and peer review

Finally, it proposes a six-step process for action at international level

Support and encouragement
Capacity building for ADWGs
Lobbying - profile and policy coherence
Finance for the process
Regional compacts
Mutual accountability

Based on a set of agreed principles, the Donor Approach aims to bring donors together to transform declarations of support for CAADP into action. Comments from participants at the meeting were integrated into the Approach document and circulated to ARD stakeholders in time for the External webpage Road from L'Aquila meeting on 14-15 September in Washington DC. The document was then further refined, and finally endorsed by donors as the Guidelines for Donor Support to CAADP process at a Country-Level. The guidelines can be downloaded in English and French on the right-hand side of this page.