In 2003, the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government adopted the Maputo Declaration on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), setting broad targets of 6% annual growth in agricultural GDP and allocating at least 10% of public expenditures to the agricultural sector. Ten years later in June 2014 in Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), they adopted seven Commitments in the Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation designed to achieve agricultural transformation by 2025.

One of the novel features of the Malabo Declaration (2014) is the emphasis on implementation and Mutual Accountability enshrined in the last commitment made by the Head of States. A key instrument for realizing this accountability is the Joint Sector Review (JSR), also for implementing the CAADP Results Framework.

Several countries in Africa do carry an annual evaluation of the implementation of their National Agricultural Investment Plans (NAIPs). Although the path to policy formulation, implementation, and review is often country-specific among countries that are engaged in the CAADP, considerable changes have been observed. The inclusive, participatory, transparent, and evidence-based policy making process is becoming more widely used in the JSR assessment exercise. The outcomes of such an annual performance review are meant to provide information for prioritized interventions for the following financial year and are captured in the ministerial budget framework papers. The objective of this study was to assess agricultural JSRs experiences within countries and Regional Economic Communities (RECs), with the ultimate goal to support the efforts of scaling up the practices across the continent. The study was carried using a sample of five countries and two RECs and based on desk reviews and stakeholder consultations.

This study was based on desk reviews and stakeholder consultations in 5 countries and 2 RECs. The RECs assessed were: (i) The East African Community (EAC), and (ii) The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), while the countries assessed were: Rwanda and Kenya in East Africa; and Senegal and Nigeria in West Africa as per the suggestion by the contracting party. A fifth country, Cameroon, was later added in the sample based on the fact it is the most advanced country in Central Africa in the implementation of the CAADP framework and that data was relatively easy to access for the consultant who resides there.

The study used a number of approaches in collecting information from stakeholders, and these included: (i) Consultation with the Ministries and RECs Departments in charge of the agricultural and rural sector; (ii) Structured interviews with stakeholders mostly on-line, through “Zoom”, WhatsApp, telephone, or e-mail, in the context of confinement due to the covid-19 pandemic; (iii) Consultation with Development Partners (DPs), Research and Training Institutions, and Non-State Actors. The discussions were guided by pre-designed checklists.

The synthesis of findings on the Joint Sector Review processes in selected countries and RECs indicate that they are all committed to align the development, implementation and review of their agricultural and food security policies, plans and strategies with the principles and the CAADP framework. They all have set up the processes of establishing and institutionalizing a comprehensive agriculture Joint Sector Review mechanism, but at various degrees of success and achievement.

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