SADC MAKING HEADWAY IN IMPROVING REGIONAL FOOD SECURITY

by Winnet Mutimbe

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is making efforts to improve regional food security through the introduction of an initiative that will facilitate regional cooperation in rural development and trade in agricultural products.

'The SADC Food Security and Rural Development Hub' conference took place in Harare, Zimbabwe as a follow up to a SADC Committee of Ministers of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources meeting which was held in Gaborone, Botswana.

Speaking at the official opening of the SADC food security and rural development hub conference, the Director of Food and Natural Resources Sector Development Unit, R. T. Mugwara, pointed out that the hub is a regional facility meant to catalyse rural development in member States through capacity building and resource mobilisation at local and regional level.

The hub will focus on various activities such as assisting national governments in rural development and agricultural strategy formulation, policy analysis and research, programme preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. It will also support regional policy analysis network in food, agriculture and natural resources and promote regional integration in trade and investment.

The initiative is expected to provide active and timely support to member states in preparing and refining their rural development strategies and policies aimed at promoting growth and reducing poverty.

"The Hub will facilitate the implementation of food security and rural development programmes in SADC member states through capacity building and resource mobilisation at both local and regional levels," the SADC Committee of Minister of food, agriculture and Natural resources said in a statement.

Manpower for the programme is expected to come from appointees from related ministries who will act as focal points to ensure that procedures, policies and programmes for daily operations are followed.

The hub is expected to initially include key multilateral donors such as the Africa Development Bank and the European Union but will be expanded overtime to accommodate new members depending on the capacity established within the programme for proper programme management and the requirements of the work programme.

A regional communication programme for development and an agricultural potential information system will also back the hub in a bid to improve the region's communication links.

"The communication programme will be aimed at ensuring that the intended beneficiaries of rural development programmes can participate in decision making affecting their lives", said a statement released after the meeting.

According to a Strategy and Business Plan presented at the conference, the hub is set to face many challenges. These include sustaining economic growth in SADC in the present environment in which institutional and human resource capacities are weak.

"The region is highly susceptible to droughts with a frequency as high as once in every four years while recovery from a single drought takes about three years", says the plan.

"Substantial delays will occur if the Committee of Ministers take a long time to review and approve work programmes and budgets, this would erode the effectiveness and timeliness of the multi-donor hub," the plan added.

However, the plan argues that the challenge posed by the decline of the natural resource base might be overcome by improving institutional and human resource capacities through the increased participation of farmers' unions and non-state actor in decision-making matters.

Meanwhile, SADC and EU Ministers of Agriculture have agreed to engage in regular specialist dialogue involving not only their governments, but also farmers' unions and 'non state actors'. (SARDC)