The African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson Moussa Faki has jetted into Kenya to attend a top Continental Summit being hosted in the country.
Faki jetted into the country on May 7, 2024, to participate in the ongoing Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi.
Faki whose tenure at the helm of AUC is set to end in 2025 and whose position is being eyed by Azimio la Umoja leader among other leaders is attending the summit which seeks to deliberate on Africa’s recent decline in soil quality of farmland.
According to the African Union (AU), the objective of the Summit is to bring together all relevant stakeholders to highlight the crucial role of fertilizer and soil health in stimulating sustainable pro-poor productivity growth in African agriculture.
Also, the event, which is set to run up to Thursday, May 9, 2024, aims to bring relevant stakeholders to agree on an African Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan, as well as the Soils Initiative for Africa.
Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit
In the summit, it is expected that a 10-year Action Plan, will be endorsed and is set to deliver concrete recommendations for steps to be taken by African leaders and stakeholders over the next 10 years.
“The Action Plan will provide a focus for new policies and investments that will enable farmers to work toward re-building soil health and ultimately increase yield responses and profitability of fertilizers,” AU says.
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It is also expected that the Action Plan will be endorsed by leading private and public sector partners across all African countries.
The summit brings together the African Heads of State, high-ranking government officials, senior policy makers, private-sector players and civil society organizations.
Other participants include representatives of farmers’ organizations and development agencies, including NGOs, scholars and scientists, and representatives of leading donor organizations.
At the opening session of the Experts Session of the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit, the different speakers made emphasis on the need for regional cooperation in various aspects within the agricultural sector.
These include fertilizer policy, research and development, investment pooling for production capacity, facilitating cross-border trade, and promoting collaborative research, capacity building, and sharing of best practices for agricultural development.
The summit organizers stressed that there is need to identify local organic sources that can be leveraged locally to manufacture and blend fertilizers to decrease the overdependence on global markets while shortening the supply chain.
According to the AU, a significant $15billion (Ksh1.9 trillion) of private sector investment will be needed to increase the local manufacturing of mineral fertilizers.
For accelerated impact, the target is to triple the local production of organic and inorganic fertilizers by 2033.
AUC Chairperson in Kenya
The visit by Faki for the summit comes at a time when former prime minister Raila Odinga is gearing up his bid for the AUC Chairperson position which will be vacant when the former’s tenure ends in 2025.
Also Read: Win For Raila as Ruto Secures AU Bid Endorsement from Another Nation
Odinga announced his interest in the role back in February 2024 in a statement flanked by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo who endorsed him for the job, noting that he was a man with experience.
Following his declaration, Raila received a huge boost after a unanimous decision by the AU Executive Council, on 15th March 2024, resolved to have the Eastern Africa region submit candidates for the post.
Since then, the opposition leader has received several endorsements including the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat which said that the Kenyan government formally communicated Raila’s candidature on March 20, 2024.
Other heads of state who have endorsed him include President William Ruto, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Emerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, and Felix Tshisekedi of Democratic Republic of Congo.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, Samia Suluhu of Tanzania and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda have also endorsed Raila for the AU job citing his vast experience and sacrifices for Kenya.
However, Raila is facing competition from two candidates within the Eastern Africa region after Djibouti and Somalia presented candidates for the same bid.
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