The course aims at providing training on agricultural policy with a view to strengthening and/or renewing the knowledge and capacity of African policy makers, including senior managers, negotiators, advisors, planners and analysts, to meet the core challenges of growing the agricultural sector as a central engine of national economic development and social policy. In doing so, the course will expose participants not only to the current state of knowledge and the comparative lessons which are available to Africa, but also some of the best practices that serve as pertinent examples of how an integrated and comprehensive agricultural policy regime has been used to promote economic transformation and social well-being.
The course will serve the policy concerns which most African governments share of, among other things, improving agricultural output and productivity, nurturing the linkages between agriculture and other economic sectors, increasing national food security, combating poverty, expanding employment, promoting environmental sustainability, and enhancing sustainable rural livelihoods, including gender equality. These are concerns that have also been embraced by the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and NEPAD.
The second Conference on Land Policy in Africa will be hosted by the Land Policy Initiative (LPI) which is a joint initiative of the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the African Development Bank. The Conference is a policy and learning event whose goal is to deepen capacity for land policy in Africa through improved access to knowledge and information on land policy development and implementation. This Conference follows an inaugural Conference held in November 2014 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that was attended by close to 400 participants.
The Conference of November 2017, dubbed CLPA-2017, will be held under the theme: “The Africa We Want: Achieving socioeconomic transformation through inclusive and equitable access to land by the youth.” This theme supports the declaration of 2017 by the African Union as the Year of Youth under the theme “Harnessing Africa’s Demographic Dividend through Investment in youth”. The format of the Conference will include plenary and parallel sessions, side events, exhibitions, and the use of social media to reach a broader audience, including youth.