SADC pushes investment in transformative agric
…as President Mnangagwa takes over SADC chairmanship
STAFF WRITER
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has called for the scaling up of investments in transformative agriculture and food systems to mitigate climate change-induced natural disasters which have had far reaching negative impacts on human and food security in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
President Mnangagwa said this in his Acceptance Speech as the new Chairperson of SADC in Harare, Saturday.
“Regrettably, the region continues to experience climate change induced natural disasters which have had far reaching negative impacts on human and food security. In light of the lessons learnt, investments in transformative agriculture and food systems must be scaled up. Through robust climate mitigation strategies and resilience building mechanisms, we must continually strive to be a region capable of feeding ourselves,” President Mnangagwa said.
In his remarks, SADC Executive Secretary, Elias Magosi, said the 2023/24 rainfall season has been a challenging one with most parts of the region experiencing the negative effects of the El Niño phenomenon, characterised by a late onset of rains, extended mid-season dry spells, and extreme high temperatures.
As a result of the El Niño, an estimated 67.7m people in the region, representing more than 17% of the regional population, have been negatively affected.
In that regard, SADC, through the then Chairperson, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, launched the SADC Regional Humanitarian Appeal amounting to at least U$5.5bn , to support the humanitarian needs and disaster response recovery of the affected population.
Following lessons learnt in the past emergencies, President Mnangagwa said the full operationalisation of the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Centre must be given due attention.
In accelerating the modernisation and industrialisation of our countries, the broadening and expansion of our energy infrastructure with particular emphasis on renewables is critically important. As developing countries we contribute the least to global carbon emissions and yet are the most affected.
He reiterated the call for greater emphasis on renewable energy, remarks he made earlier in the week, during the the 7th SADC Summit Public Lecture, one of the precursors to the 44th Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government.
“For example, the next industrial revolution will be powered by renewable energy, primarily driven by lithium and solar energy. As such, more research and skills must be developed to enable the establishment of a new generation of companies and industries around these sub-sectors to produce new forms of value-added goods and products,” said President Mnangagwa.
This year’s SADC theme, “Promoting Innovation to Unlock Opportunities for Sustainable Economic Growth and Development towards an Industrialised SADC”, brings to the fore the role of innovation in sustained economic transformation and development.
To date, intra-regional trade stands at a low of about 23%, signifying that, as SADC Member States, are trading more with the rest of the world than we do among themselves.
“One of the culprits driving these low levels of intra-regional trade is the usual non-tariff barriers. Despite zero import duty on 85% of products traded among SADC Member States, intra-SADC importers and exporters continue to encounter new and long-standing unresolved non-tariff barriers.
“It is therefore imperative to re-dedicate our collective efforts to implement measures to reduce these barriers and promote intra-regional cooperation and integration. The benefits of an enlarged regional market to the SADC economy and citizens cannot be overemphasised. Our collective market of 389 million people, and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$841 billion dollars, provides an enormous potential for trade and investment opportunities, as well as economic growth,” according to Magosi.
Going forward, President Mnangagwa rallied SADC to accelerate the implementation of regional projects and programmes. These include those related to cross border energy projects, transport infrastructure development, as well as climate proofing our agriculture and growing our manufacturing, tourism and SMEs, among other critical sectors.
“As Member States, let us double efforts through innovation to improve on our implementation scorecard while scaling up the regional industrialisation and integration Agenda. None of our countries must be left behind,” he said.