European Commission says committed to agri-food in Africa

BRUSSELS, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission said on Thursday it is committed to a sustainable African agri-food sector, as its Task Force for Rural Africa delivered a report in the aspect.

According to the recommendations of the task force, Africa and the European Union should develop a partnership operating at three levels -- people to people, business to business, and government to government. It would institute a multi-stakeholder dialogue at all levels, starting locally, and enable a closer connection between African and European societies, business communities and governments.

Building on some of the short term recommendations made by the task force, the Commission will start implementing such projects as twinning and exchange programs between African and European agricultural bodies, African Union-EU agribusiness platform and innovation hubs.

"The report handed over today is a landmark in the process towards more cooperation between the EU and Africa in the agri-food sector," the Commission said in a statement.

It identified four strategic areas of action for the medium to long term -- job creation, climate action, sustainable transformation of African agriculture and development of the African food industry and markets.

Tom Arnold, an Irish agricultural economist who leads the task force, told journalists in Brussels that generating enough jobs and income to meet the needs of a population boom in Africa is still a challenge in both politics and economics.