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Agriculture And The Basin Policies
SADC has facilitated regional cooperation in food
security, research, environment, land management,
livestock production and disease control,
fisheries, forestry and wildlife that are coordinated
by the SADC Food, Agriculture and Natural
Resources Directorate. The Sorghum and Millet
Improvement Programme, and specialist institutions
such as the International Crops Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics also play a significant
role towards improving agriculture.
Policy makers in Africa have long recognised the
importance of the agricultural sector to the continent.
The Lagos Plan of Action, adopted by the then
OAU in 1980 identified food security as one of the
main priorities and called for a target growth rate of
four percent per year in the agricultural sector.
In 1985, the OAU African Priority Programme for
Economic Recovery (APPER) called for African governments
to devote up to 25 percent of government
budgets to the agricultural sector.
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