The goal of the East Africa regional strategy is increased access, availability and utilization of African-grown staple foods in regionally integrated markets. The objective is increased trade flows of staple foods in the region, linked to the northern and central transport corridors. To achieve this, as well as contributing to the objectives of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP), Feed the Future East Africa is making core investments in the following areas:
- Better integrated national and regional markets
- Expanded regional access to improved technology, knowledge and inputs
- Increased private sector investment in regional agriculture and nutrition
- Increased capacity of African regional partners
- Increased coordination and services among Feed the Future programs in East Africa
Cross-cutting issues include gender, climate change, natural resource management, and governance.
Highlights
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA). USAID/East Africa has been supporting COMESA in various aspects of its trade agenda, including customs reform, internet-based information systems for processing customs procedures, harmonization of standards, and CAADP coordination. COMESA aims to achieve regional integration through the harmonization and rationalization of a wide range of trade policies, regulations, and procedures. A COMESA Free Trade Area with 13 members was established in 2000. In June 2009, a Customs Union was formed that will be harmonized with two neighboring Regional Economic Communities, the East Africa Community and the Southern African Development Community, under a Tripartite Agreement.
The East Africa Community (EAC). The EAC has five member states—Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi—and is focused on economic and political integration. It has a regional parliament and each country has a Ministry for East African Affairs to follow up on the implementation of policies at the regional level. In 2010, the EAC launched its own common market for goods, labor, services, and capital; it has set goals for a common currency and political federation. USAID/East Africa and several of its partners have been working closely with the EAC on activities related to trade policy, harmonized regulations, grade and quality standards, streamlined border procedures, natural resource management, and global climate change. Increased support to the EAC by Feed the Future focuses on trade in staple foods and food security, management of aflatoxin, nutrition, and adaption to climate variability. Assistance will be closely linked with the evolving U.S. Government inter-agency EAC Integration Initiative.
CAADP Process Implementation. Feed the Future will continue to work with and support the African institutions responsible for overseeing and coordinating the implementation of the CAADP agenda. The principal partner is the COMESA Secretariat, which is also supported by a multi-donor trust fund managed by the World Bank and to which USAID contributes. The focus in the first year will be the completion and implementation of the CAADP regional compact, within the framework of the Tripartite Agreement (noted above). The regional Feed the Future strategy will support activities linked to CAADP Pillar II (markets and trade), Pillar III (food security and nutrition), and Pillar IV (science and technology).