"Implementing CAADP provides an opportunity for the country to further strengthen its agricultural development efforts to achieve greater impact on the country’s economy and food security. More specifically, signing the CAADP Compact enables Mauritania to set the framework and parameters for long-term partnership in the agricultural sector” - NEPAD Press Statement

Mauritania becomes the 27th country, and first country in the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), to sign the The New Partnership for Africa's Development's (NEPAD) Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) Compact, committing to a 10 percent investment in agriculture for a growth of 6% in gross domestic product (GDP) each year.  The CAADP roundtable discussion, ending in the signing of the Compact, was organised by the Government of Mauritania.  It was poised as a unified approach to establish commitments in partnership and investments for the improvement of food security and to have positive impact on the country's economy.

The National Strategy for Agricultural and Food Security (NSAFS) and the National Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plan (NAFSIP) for Mauritania came together to set the foundations for the long-term growth in agriculture in response to its history of fluctuation.  Mauritania’s agricultural sector has struggled to maintain a consistent growth rate, growing in the 1990s at only 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent in the 2000s.  For instance, in 1995 the sector grew at an impressive rate of 24.9 percent before falling to -22.2 percent two years later. In the 2000s, the pattern of negative to positive fluctuations continued, but with less severity.  From 2002 to 2006, average allocations to the sector equaled 6.3 percent of total budgetary resources, allowing growth at 3.8 percent by 2008.   Under the new commitments to CAADP, Mauritania hopes to repair this vast fluctuation to steady growth per steady investment.

Komla Bissi, the Senior Agribusiness Advisor of the African Union and the NEPAD Agency, signed on behalf of the agency, stating the Compact "demonstrates the resolve and commitments of government, national stakeholders and development partners to engage jointly and collectively in advancing Mauritania’s agriculture development agenda."

Click to see a copy of Mauritania's draft CAADP Compact.

See Komla Bissi's Full Statement.

Photo credit: IFAD.