Honorable Greyford Monde MP, Zambia’s Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, has challenged participants attending the CAADP Regional Communications and Knowledge Sharing Learning Workshop in COMESA to become change agents in the fight against poverty in the continent.
Speaking when he officially opened the workshop on 2nd December, 2013 in Siavonga, Zambia, Honorable Monde urged delegates to be agents of change through effective and efficient communication and knowledge sharing on CAADP and related Food Security issues.
“Information is power and we can only empower our people to change for the better in the area of food and nutrition security by communicating and sharing the knowledge we gain from this workshop”, he said.
Hon. Monde said the workshop, which attracted participants from COMESA and ECOWAS member states, provided a rare opportunity for sharing experiences and challenges of malnutrition and food security in Africa.
Speaking on behalf of COMESA, Deputy CAADP Coordinator, Dr. Nalishebo Meebelo thanked the Zambian Government for being hosts of the regional meeting.
Dr. Meebelo said COMESA was pleased to partner with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other partners towards building capacity of stakeholders in the member states to better implement the CAADP framework and its processes.
She challenged participants to ensure that they increase their communications coverage to enhance visibility of the challenges facing Africa such as food and nutrition insecurity which are responsible for the high malnutrition and infant mortality rates.
“Sub Saharan Africa still has a high prevalent rate of malnutrition and infant mortality due to, food and nutrition insecurity. At the core of this problem is lack of information and knowledge, which we need to share frequently with the majority of people in Africa. Communicators need to be responsible for effecting the much needed positive difference. ” said Dr. Meebelo.
Welcoming delegates from Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) who also attended the workshop, Dr. Nalishebo said their participation was evidence of the existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) between COMESA and ECOWAS, signed in 2010.
And FAO Zambia Representative Mr. Mtendere Mphatso said his organization was happy to partner with RECs in Africa to address challenges of food and nutrition security on the continent.
Mr. Phatso said concerted efforts by all stakeholders were need to serious address issues of food and nutrition security across the continent.
The workshop which mainly focused on capacity building in the area of Communication and Knowledge Sharing, with a focus on CAADP Pillar III relating to Food and Nutrition Security was jointly organized by COMESA and FAO.
This face to face training workshop which is running from 2-13th December, 2013 was preceded by an online training session held from 25-29th November, 2013.
Participants from both COMESA and ECOWAS were drawn from 13 countries namely; Swaziland, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Gambia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya,Seychelles, Sudan and Malawi.
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