Increased commitments to boost investments in Africa's agricultural sector was made at the sixth Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme Partnership Platform meeting, which was held in Johannesburg recently.

During the meeting, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) planning and coordinating agency, as well as other development partners noted the progress in defining a postcompact strategy to complete the design of investment plans, and agreed on funding and policy-related modalities of implementing these plans.

It was also recommended that the name of investment plans be changed to the ‘Agricultural and Food Security Investment Plans'.

AUC rural economy and agriculture commissioner Tumusiime Peace urged stakeholders to ensure the quality of agriculture and food security investment plans at a country level and to ensure that these were funded.

Further, emphasis was placed on the need for Nepad's planning and coordinating agency to better coordinate with the regional economic communities to ensure implementation at country level.

The need for all parties to ensure sufficient country leadership in the postcompact process, as well as the engagement of farmer organisations, the private sector, and civil society organisations was also stressed.

The meeting noted the progress of several countries in their budget share for agricultural development, especially after the Maputo Declaration, while also considering the implementation of the medium- term expenditure frameworks and its possible restrictions.