Three years after the G8 Summit at L’Aquila, Italy, the international community recognizes the importance of food security to development, inclusive economic growth and the dignity of all women and men. In that spirit, we welcome the success of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) in demonstrating African ownership and leadership, its call for expanded public and private investment in agriculture, and desire to build on the progress that African governments have made in advancing a vision for agricultural development in Africa.
Ethiopia has demonstrated a strong commitment to food security by balancing investment in the chronically food insecure areas with an increased focus on higher potential areas of the county, exemplified by the development of its Agricultural Growth Program. Together, the Government of Ethiopia and the G8 members commit to the “New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition” and to working together to generate greater private investment in agricultural development, scale innovation, achieve sustainable food security outcomes, reduce poverty and end hunger. As partners, we commit ourselves to the following principles and actions:
Support of CAADP Country Compacts
The G8 members, consistent with commitments made at L’Aquila, reaffirm their intention to align their agricultural financial and technical support with the priorities of the CAADP National Investment Plan for Agriculture and Food Security (referred to in Ethiopia as Ethiopia’s Agriculture Sector Policy Investment Framework or PIF), in such a manner as to accelerate implementation of the PIF and in conjunction with commitments made by the Government of Ethiopia. Consistent with the foregoing, the G8 members recognize the value of predictability of donor activities including financial and technical support over a sustained period of time, as set out in Annex 2.
The G8 members intend to provide support within the agriculture sector to accelerate implementation of the PIF, including through the Grow Africa platform, with the overall goal of facilitating increases in private investment and scaling innovation. The G8 members intend to engage the relevant agencies of their member governments and also to bring to bear appropriate enabling actions to accelerate progress in the areas of finance and markets, science and technology, and risk management. To address the underlying causes of food insecurity, the G8 members intend to focus key resources and other contributions on investments that will generate agricultural growth, specifically on agricultural and livestock production, productivity and marketing investments within the PIF and in particular on the development of the Government of Ethiopia’s priority areas outlined within the Agricultural Growth Program (AGP).