From April 20-24, 2009, African Ministers of Agriculture, Livestock and Land met at the Headquarters of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa to address the challenges posed by climate change, agricultural trade, investment financing in agriculture and the participation of the rural poor in development.

Experts and participants at the Conference commended efforts of African governments to promote agriculture and food security but also underscored the urgency to increase investments on land and agriculture to increase agricultural productivity, food security and economic growth. A brief of the main conclusions of the meeting is available from the African Union here.

Representatives of ReSAKSS participated in the two-day conference and presented recent data and analysis on public spending for agriculture in Africa in a presentation entitled “Public Expenditure Tracking in Africa”. The presentation highlighted the performance of Africa’s public expenditures in comparison with those of other developing regions; the trends and progress towards the 10% budgetary allocation to agriculture (Maputo Declaration target) in different African countries; and the key agriculture investment priorities in Africa. It concluded that many countries have increased public allocations to agriculture since the Maputo 10 percent declaration in 2003; however, much more still needs to be done to further increase public expenditures for agriculture.