The Speaker of EALA, Rt. Hon Dr Margaret Nantongo Zziwa is calling on legislators to develop relevant legislation to address the state of play of Foreign Direct Investments in the agricultural sector in the region to spur its development.
At the same time, Rt. Hon Zziwa has called for the comprehensive implementation of the EAC Food Security Action Plan and the adoption of common measures to ensure sustainable management of soil and land resources in the region.
The Speaker made the remarks while officiating over a 2 day Inter-Parliamentary Workshop in Kigali, Rwanda. The workshop themed Making Agricultural Investment work for Africa: A Parliamentarian Response to the Land Rush is organised by the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) in collaboration with the Association for European Parliamentarians with Africa and the International Institute for Sustainable Development. The Workshop aims at raising awareness among Parliamentarians on the current scale and impact of FDIs in East African land and water and to strengthen land policy and governance.
In attendance are Parliamentarians from PAP, EALA, ECOWAS and the Parliament of Rwanda and the Parliament of South Africa respectively.
The Speaker noted that while agriculture contributes for close to 80% of income of the continent, its contribution to the GDP of the economies remained disproportionately smaller owing to a number of challenges.
Hon Zziwa cited poor governance, under capitalisation and under mechanisation of agriculture, inadequate research and development as some of the challenges.
There is little doubt that FDIs in agriculture hold the key to Africa’s food security and enhanced exports, sustainable farming and appropriate technologies and skills. But a win-win situation is necessary and we have a fundamental role to play, the Speaker remarked.
In her remarks, the 4th President of the Pan-African Parliament, Hon Judith Kantengwa remarked that it was vital for the region to implement the Maputo Protocol which advocates for 10% of the national budgets to agricultural development
According to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), Africa needs USD 250 billion of investment to develop infrastructure in rural areas between 2002 and 2015. Yet only few countries are able to comply with the Maputo Declaration, the legislator remarked.
Hon Kantengwa called for implementation of a regulatory framework on the access to an equitable benefit sharing that includes clear, legally binding and enforceable obligations on investors as well as the need for an AU Resolution on land grabbing as a policy.
The Continental policy further calls for review of the contractual arrangements and requests for the revision or repeal of unbalanced contracts, periodical investigation and the ascertaining on the extent of the contracts.
The Representative of AWEPA Holger Gustafsson said it was necessary to sustain natural resources as part of the pre-requisite to meet the MDGs.
Several presentations are expected during the two-day workshop including an overview of progress in the East African region and its impact on farmers and the private sector initiative.
The workshop shall also explore model laws and policies on responsible investment in agriculture before summing up on the way forward.
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For more Information, contact: Bobi Odiko, Senior Public Relations Officer; East African Legislative Assembly; Tel: +255-27-2508240 Cell: +255 787 870945, +254-733-718036; No in Kigali +250-783-452347 Email: bodiko@eachq.org Web: https://www.eala.org Arusha, Tanzania
