The Agricultural Sector Development Programme is a national policy with a multi-sectoral approach. The strategic objectives of This Programme are: (i) enhancement of sustainable water and land resource management (for crops, livestock and fisheries) and promotion of climate-smart agriculture, (ii) improvement of agricultural productivity and profitability, (iii) strengthening and promotion of competitive value chain development in the agricultural sector, and (iv) strengthening institutions and capacity building in the agriculture sector at national, regional and local level and effective coordination of public and private sector. Sustainable food security and nutrition will be ensured by involving all stakeholders in implementing strategies for sustainable food availability, food accessibility and proper food utilization to be achieved through food production, stock management, trade/markets and adaptive strategies/measures against negative effects of disasters. Malnutrition will be reduced, especially in rural areas, by agricultural research regarding food safety and high quality products, farmer education, access to information, seed diversification, and food processing for improved nutritional quality. The Programme underlines that household food and nutrition needs will be satisfied, as well as rural people will be protected from acute food shortages in the event of natural disasters. In order to make agriculture, livestock and fisheries more productive and sustainable, the Programme sets out several activities to be carried out in an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable manner such as: (i) efficient and inclusive water use will be provided for irrigation, livestock and fishery, (ii) conservation and sustainable use of water resources will be ensured, (iii) competition of water resources will be increased towards sustainable use, (iv) Irrigation Organizations will be strengthened for irrigation management, (v) effective land use planning, sustainable soil management and watershed management will be ensured, and (vi) agricultural production intensification strategies will be implemented to develop intensive diversified farming systems. Rural poverty will be reduced through expanding farmers’ access to rural value addition and competitive marketing systems for priority commodity value chains, with a gender sensitive approach. An enabling environment will be created for rural commercial development in which farmers, including women, can access commercial input and output markets, towards improved productivity and profitability of market-oriented farming. The institutional capacity of smallholder organizations will be developed to negotiate and manage new marketing arrangements with private sector actors. Farmers will be empowered by training on marketing and business management. Gender equality and women’s empowerment will be fostered at all levels. Youth will be empowered and engaged by access to productive resources, services, education and innovation. Policies on agricultural input, agricultural trade, private sector investment, land tenure, financing, food security and nutrition will be developed and harmonized. Domestic, regional and international trade for agricultural and food commodities will be promoted by establishing the Agricultural Commodity Exchange for selected commodities, raising awareness on the required marketing standards and quality, developing existing legal and regulatory framework of agricultural marketing, improving the market information system, strengthening the systems to carry out food safety and quality controls, and by forcing agricultural traders and transporters to be in compliance with the regulations to minimize non-tariff barriers. The investment will be encouraged to increase farmers’ productivity for crops, livestock and fisheries in key points, such as irrigation, research-extension linkages, farmers’ access to information, improved technologies, equipment and machinery for production and post-harvesting, plant health, animal health, and agribusiness support services. Financial agricultural measures will be taken regarding agricultural infrastructures for marketing and value chain. Number of new market linkages will be increased and Public-Private Partnerships will be established. Commodity value chain will be developed by building business partnerships between smallholders, markets and agribusinesses. Sustainable increase in agricultural productivity and commercialization by most smallholders will be achieved through improving technology generation delivery systems responsive to farmer needs and market requirements. Education on agro-processing with all stages will be provided for entrepreneurs. In order to ensure effective development and management of the agriculture sector, as well as of the crop, livestock and fisheries sectors, institutional capacity building and efficient use of knowledge management system and Information and Communication Technologies will be ensured. Joint M&E systems will be established to provide a results-focused framework for the agriculture sector. Resilience of agricultural and food security to climate change will be built and adapted. Greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced from agriculture, livestock and fisheries. The Agricultural sector lead ministries will take mitigation and adaptation measures against climate change, such as : (i) research and exchange information with other regional and international research institutions, (ii) improvement of water use efficiency in agricultural production systems, (iii) promotion of integrated land and soil management, (iv) implementation of environmental and social management plans by farmers and animal breeders, and (v) awareness-raising, policy frameworks, strategies, programmes, institutional development and financing for implementing climate-smart agriculture development. The Agriculture Climate Resilience Plan will serve as a roadmap for mainstreaming climate change within current agricultural policies, plans, and practices, to identify and respond to the most urgent impacts posed by climate variability and climate change to the crop subsector. The most vulnerable will be protected against climate related sudden shocks by establishing early warning system, ensuring disaster risk management, and developing social safety nets projects. The Steering Committee will be responsible of the implementation and coordination of this Programme. The National Agricultural Sector Stakeholders Meeting will be held once a year under the chairmanship of the Minister for Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries to review the sectorial achievement of the Programme and its contribution to national development and poverty reduction.
Agricultural Sector Development Programme.