Rwanda has emerged the best overall performing country in implementing the 2014 Malabo Declaration of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).
The latest report by the African Union Commission (AUC), which was presented at the AU General Assembly on February 10, 2020, has indicated that Rwanda’s performance improved from 6.1 in 2017 to 7.2 in 2019 against the benchmark of 6.6 out of 10 marks.
The benchmark is the minimum score for a country to be qualified as being on track in implementing the CAADP Malabo Declaration.
CAADP is Africa’s policy framework for agriculture and agriculture-led development since 2003 that aims at reducing poverty and increasing food security and nutrition on the continent.
The 2014 Malabo Declaration is a commitment to the CAADP principles adopted by AU Heads of State and Government to provide effective leadership for the attainment of specific goals by the year 2025, including ending hunger, tripling intra-African trade in agricultural goods and services, enhancing resilience of livelihoods and production systems, and ensuring that agriculture contributes significantly to poverty reduction.
During the first biennial review of the CAADP programme in 2017, Rwanda was also the best overall performing country. The African Union Member States’ performance is presented in a form of a “Country Scorecard in implementing the Malabo Commitments” by 2025 for improved livelihoods and shared prosperity for African citizens.
The Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Dr. Gerardine Mukeshimana, has said that implementing CAADP is well in line with Rwanda’s development agenda.
“We welcome Rwanda’s performance as a testimony to the government’s efforts in honouring the continental commitments and improving the lives of Rwandans through implementing comprehensive agriculture development policies and programmes,” she said.
Rwanda’s continental recognition for the second time in a row has come more than a year since the country launched its fourth Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation (PSTA 4) aiming at moving the agriculture sector from subsistence to a market-led sector contributing to exports and jobs creation. PSTA4 is strategically aligned with National, Continental, and International agricultural development agenda, including CAADP.
