USAID Advances the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program
Support for African Vision Builds on Commitments Made at the G-8 Summit in Gleneagles
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2005
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Contact: USAID Press Office
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Following on the heels of the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Andrew S. Natsios announced that the agency is realigning specific programs to advance the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP), an integrated framework that promotes agricultural development as a means to eliminate hunger, reduce poverty and promote wealth. Joining representatives of Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania, Administrator Natsios made the announcement at a special event at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
"The Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program provides a new framework for collective action among donors, governments, business and farmer organizations," Administrator Natsios said. "It is African led and represents a true partnership to assist African countries in tackling the root causes of hunger and poverty, as well as building wealth. We applaud the African vision and ambition, and are committed to working toward these important goals."
Specifically, to back the African-led implementation of the integrated agricultural framework that is CAADP, USAID will allocate agency resources over five years to support the ongoing Presidential Initiative to End Hunger in Africa. USAID will program approximately $200 million in fiscal year 2006 for the first year of a five-year effort that will span from 2006 to 2010. USAID expects similar commitments over each of the next five years.
The core objective of CAADP is to achieve a 6 percent annual growth rate in agriculture, sustained over time. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the only region of the developing world expected to have more poor people in 2015 than in 1990 and will require a 6.2 percent annual reduction in poverty to cut hunger in half by 2015. The scourge of poverty has been accompanied by a high prevalence of hunger in Africa, with almost 30 percent of children under five underweight and 33 percent of the adult population undernourished.
To help turn the tide of African hunger and poverty, CAADP - under the auspices of the New Partnership for Africa's Development - was established by African Heads of State and Government who have committed the resources and leadership to support its implementation.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years. For more information on USAID, visit: http://www.usaid.gov.
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