Mutharika’s outline for self-sufficient Africa to be launched

(PANA)-- A book by Malawi’s President and African Union (AU) Chairman Bingu wa Mutharika is to be launched in Addis Ababa on Saturday, ahead of the opening of the 16th ordinary summit of the AU’s heads of state and government the following day.

A large Malawian delegation has been in the Ethiopian capital for several days to plan the launch of the book, entitled: ‘The African dream: from poverty to Wealth’.

At the 16th AU summit, Mutharika is expected to hand over the mantle of AU’s leadership to the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoros Obiang Nguema. He will then serve as a rapporteur of the AU for a year and an ambassador for the African food initiative until the end of his presidency in Malawi in 2014.

President Mutharika’s initiative on food self sufficiency in Africa led to the decision, at the 15th ordinary summit of Heads of State and Government of the AU held in July 2010 in Kampala (Uganda), that every 30 October be marked as the African Day of food and nutritional security.

In this sense, it was recommended that a policy framework and a specific strategy be put in place to ensure that Africa becomes self-sufficient in food within five years.

This initiative has already been given special attention by African leaders, at the 14th regular session in February 2010 in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), where the Malawian President had expressed and shared with his peers his vision of an Africa that is self-sufficient in food within five years.

Building on this momentum, the AU Commission - in collaboration with its partners - drafted in March 2010 a document entitled ‘Towards a practical and timely implementation of the African Vision of Food Security in five years.’

The document was then submitted to the AU Commission / ECA Joint Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, held in March 2010 in Lilongwe, Malawi.

At the end of their deliberations, the Ministers adopted the resolution entitled ‘Towards achieving food security in Africa in five years,’ which was subsequently approved at the 15th ordinary session of the Assembly of heads State and government in Kampala.

Mutharika’s book emphasises, among others, political and strategic changes needed and desired for quick gains, ranging from political concerns related to increased access to inputs likely to increase crops yield.

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