“The Government of the Union of Comoros is keen to advance the CAADP processes further through continued, inclusive multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary engagement in the country.” This was said by the Delegate in charge of the Economy, Foreign Trade and Privatization of Comoros, Mr Abdou Nassur Madi, when he received a CAADP support delegation from COMESA, on 16 February 2013. Mr Nassur Madi noted that although there had been a delay in the Comoros CAADP processes, he was hopeful that the COMESA mission to the country would assist in re-energizing the activities. “The Government of Comoros perceives CAADP as an important agenda that will advance the country’s agricultural sector, and also contribute to overall economic development and poverty reduction,” he said.
He said that his government knows that the CAADP process has the potential to modernize and transform the agricultural sector through its principles of broad stakeholder consultation and collaborative implementation, monitoring and evaluation, transparency and mutual accountability. “However, our country will require consistent technical and financial support from COMESA and its partners, in order to effectively realize the objectives and to access fully, the benefits of this continental initiative,” he added.
He informed the delegation that the Union of Comoros has instituted a multi-sectoral National CAADP Steering Committee, and also recruited three national consultants to undertake the stocktaking and analysis of growth options as a prerequisite to informing the Comoros National CAADP Compact. The Union of Comoros’ Delegate for Production (Agriculture and Fisheries) and President of the CAADP Steering Committee, Mr Mohamed Halifa, also expressed his desire to expedite the CAADP agenda and requested COMESA to work with the National Steering Committee to ensure that the Compact is soon ready for signature.
Meanwhile, various technical and financial partners such as UNDP and the French Development Agency have also signaled their continued support to the agricultural sector in Comoros and subsequently to advancing the CAADP agenda. COMESA encourages non-state actors, including in-country development partners, to assist the country to align their agriculture policy, strategy and programmes to the CAADP Framework. With such support, it is expected that the Union of the Comoros will join other COMESA Member states that have achieved key milestones in CAADP implementation.
The Union of the Comoros officially launched the CAADP implementation process in September 2011. So far, 16 COMESA Member States have officially launched the CAADP process, while 11 have signed the National Compact. The Compact is a document that presents an overview of the agricultural sector and highlights priority areas selected for investment in order to meet the 6 percent annual sector growth objective of CAADP. The Union of Comoros anticipates that the signature of the CAADP Compact will take place in July 2013.