Policy, resources, actors and capacities

Agricultural policies are important determinants of food security outcomes. Finance, investment, institutions, actors and capacities interact with policies in playing a key role in resource allocation along the food value chain, from production to consumption, from supply to demand. Such policies are most effective when they are evidence-based and adapt to changing realities. To coordinate agricultural policies across the continent, a common framework for such initiatives has long been an objective of the member states of the African Union and its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity. The 2003 African Union (AU) Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) compact responded to this collective aspiration. This chapter discusses how effective Africa’s agricultural policies are, as well as how far countries have implemented the framework set out in CAADP.