The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa’s (Asareca) new regional strategy on agricultural and trade policy changes will help member nations trade more effectively.
Asareca executive director Enock Warinda made the statement yesterday (Monday, 30 November 2021) at the start of a debate between the 11 member nations on a new regional strategy that will be ready in a month, according to him.
“The reforms will focus on the standardisation of some of the commodities traded within the eastern and central African region. We want to increase the trade accessibility of the farmers and practitioners to the market, both within and outside their countries,” he said, as reported by AllAfrica.
“We have already come up with a framework. We believe this dialogue is going to enrich. We will be ready with the draft and share it with a caucus of professionals who will analyse it to make sure it is customised to each country, then escalate it to the regional level.”
According to Warinda, the regional policy aims to broaden the market for commodities and commerce.
“We are going to come up with a good roadmap on how to increase trade, market accessibility and standardisation of our goods within the region,” he said.
Implementation will be a boost
Julian Barungi, Asareca’s policy programme officer, said the policy framework will be implemented under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme-Expilar IV Project (CAADP-XP4 Project).
“We want to enable agricultural research and innovation, including extension services, to contribute effectively to food and nutrition security, economic development and climate mitigation in Africa,” she said.
Through improved collaboration across national, sub-regional and continental agriculture research and extension organisations, the policy framework will boost Asareca and its sub-regional partner organisations’ operational capability.
Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda are the Asareca members.
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