The meeting had specific objectives 1) Engagement in effective dialogue among various stakeholders to deepen the commitment and alignment of national agricultural policies and investment plans to key CAADP targets and principles;
2) capacity strengthening of small-scale farmers, pastoralists, land rights
alliances, women’s rights organisations and other civil society groups to engage effectively with the CAADP processes at the national and regional levels; 3) to update participants on the CAADP Mutual Accountability Framework and how country-level implementations are addressing the needs of women and climate change response mechanisms; 4) the facilitation of constructive exchanges of ideas among government representatives, development agencies, smallholder farmers, pastoralists and other civil society groups not only on the CAADP implementation process, but also on the broader issues facing African agriculture; 5)to share good practices regarding the identification, design and implementation of national and regional policies, strategies and programmes that contribute to enhanced agricultural growth, food security and rural development in Africa; and 6) identify gaps and present clear recommendations for effective CAADP implementation at the national and regional level. Participants comprised of smallholder farmers and pastoralists across the continent, land rights alliances, women’s rights organisations, agribusiness, the youth sector, government officials from Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone, representatives from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union Commission (AUC), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and research institutions including the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC).
