Francesco Rampa, ECDPM Food Security and Nutrition: Regional approaches EU Council Working Party on Development Cooperation 5 July 2012, Brussels

1. Regional approaches to
food security in Africa
FRANCESCO RAMPA
EU Council Working Party on Development Cooperation
5 July 2012, Brussels

2. Food crises: a lot is regional
• 2008 price spike [cereal prices 43%] surprise: food
production was at highest level (absolute & pc)
 Low level of technology
 Climatic factors (droughts, climate change)
 Abrupt changes input prices (energy prices)
 Low supply response due to poor infrastructure &
market integration
 Export bans
• Sahel & Horn: regional crises require more reg. &
structural solutions…wiser
transb.watermanagement, food trade, account of
pastoralists' movement, etc...or security threats will
continue(kenya/somalia&mali)
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3. Why regional cooperation &
integration are important
1. Poor performance of African agricultural markets
(only 25% marketed - 19% of intra-Afr exports is agric)
2. Individual countries alone cannot address challenges
& opportunities
3. Coherence and coordination of different regional
initiatives enhance their chances of success, also ODA
4. Lessons from regional integration can help the
effectiveness of regional food security action
5. Coherence and coordination of regional and national
action increase the value of both
6. Linking food security and regional integration can
help public-private cooperation & stimulate investment
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5. CAADP as Development Effectiveness
?
- CAADP is a very advanced attempt at fully
implementing the Paris Declaration & AAA
- Difficult to match: degree of African ownership (at
political-bureaucratic-experts level) (unlike other
AU/regional initiatives such as FTAs); robust plans
for mutual accountability (M&E); outreach to other
sectors; ODA predictability &coordination
- Weaknesses remain, lacking sufficient: private
sector involvement; clarity on the cont-reg-
natnexus; donor-driven? ; impact?

6. DifferentRegions – SharedChallenges
• ECOWAS, COMESA, EAC, SADC, ECCAS,
IGAD
• National Regional Nexus (vert
coherence)?
• 3Cs different reg.coop sectors (horiz
coherence)?
• Participation of NSA in Reg.Compact
preparations?
• Role of RECs/MS, AU/NPCA, DPs
• IGAD and Spaghetti
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7. Recent developments
• “Sustaining CAADP Momentum” (special AU
Ministerial on Trade &Agric in November  AU
Summit 2013…10 years b-day);
• Business say (“Grow Africa”) bottlenecks to inv
in CAADP are often regional … business-led RI !
• Which agric.model? TNCs (intensive
agric/monocropping) or small
farmers/sustain.agric ?
• DPs at HQ-reg-nat to align/coord/harmonize
RegCompacts (reg DWG)?
• LR solutions cheaper than emergency (CNN
effect) but politics (elections &reg.solutions? …
e.g. Ethiopia: 2000 vs 2003)  politically
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8. Thank you
fr@ecdpm.org
www.ecdpm.org/foodsecuritywww.
ecdpm.org/dp128
www.ecdpm.org/bn38
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