SHARING DATA KEY TO ACCURATE REPORTING ON MALABO COMMITMENTS

The participants at the Knowledge Managment training workshop
on Data Capture &; Monitoring/Reporting on Malabo Commitments

By Natasha Mhango

The commitments of the 2014 Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agriculture Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods, come to an end in 2025 which is literally next year. The Malabo Commitments, as they are usually referred to, were the product of a 2014 African Union Heads of State meeting in which member states committed to fostering agriculture -led development in order to reduce poverty and end hunger in Africa by 2025.

This targeted approach saw various African countries also commit to allocating 10% of their public expenditures towards financing agriculture, boosting intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and services; as well as ensuring regular a biennial review process to track and monitor the progress being made.https://www.resakss.org/sites/default/files/Malabo%20Declaration%20on%20Agriculture_2014_11%2026-.pdf

While a significant number of signatories to the Commitments are not on track in achieving some of the set targets, they have however made significant progress in the right direction.

During a recently held training workshop on Knowledge Management and Monitoring /Reporting of Malabo Commitments that was held in Chisamba, Zambia,

brief analyses of Biennial Review Reports (BRRs) from various countries indicated that the political will to transform the agriculture sector remained aggressive as evidenced by the existence of working policies and strategies designed to promote agriculture-led development.

The training workshop which was facilitated by the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa(CCARDESA); and the E.U funded CAADP-XP4 brought together consultants, knowledge management experts, the media, the youth and some government officials from Zambia’s ministries of Agriculture and; Fisheries and Livestock to analyze the status of the Malabo Commitments in the SADC Region.

Of particular importance were issues surrounding harnessing data and information; and connecting the information with people who need it.

Presentations from the event based on some countries’ BRRs indicated that most countries had established appropriate policies and strategies aimed at reducing poverty and ending hunger which was indicative of progress into the desired direction. However, there were some concerns raised on the accuracy of the data that was used to measure this progress.

There was an assertion that a significant amount of progress being under-reported was brought to fora as the consensus recognized the unavailability of data and/or inaccessibility to data during the compilation of the BRRs.

Dr. Martin Muchero - an international consultant with expertise in rural development and agriculture - was one of the participants at the training workshop that was held and agreed with this assertion to a valid extent.

He highlighted the need to network and share information through consistent reporting – a characteristic that was evident in countries like Rwanda and Egypt that were reportedly on track with meeting the Malabo Commitments.

Dr. Martin Muchero - International consultant

“Other countries that have done well are those countries that have put together good, sound agriculture information management systems,” Dr. Muchero said

He added that reporting on investment in agriculture for instance needed to be broader than simply reporting on increases in farm production.

"Even constructing a road in the rural area that facilitates the farmer to access the market - that is investment in agriculture…So let’s not think about the 10% investment [commitment to agriculture financing] as just what goes into the Ministry of Agriculture, let’s think about the small contributions that are being made at the local community level. That all counts too,” Dr. Muchero said.

Mr. Benjamin Abugri – the Knowledge Management and Outreach Officer for Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa(FARA) echoed the need for key stakeholders to network in reporting their individual countries’ progress towards the Malabo Commitments.

Benjamin Abugri - KM an Outreach Officer for FARA

“Knowledge management is not only about collecting and sharing information but also about connecting people to the information,” Mr. Abugri highlighted.

As the adage goes, if it’s not written down, then it didn’t happen.