The 20-million members of the East Africa Farmers Federation have expressed their resolve to continue in its goal of promoting and enhancing regional integration for its membership.
EAFF President Phillip Kiriro who underscored the farmers resolve during a courtesy call on the Speaker of the East Africa Legislative Assembly, Abdirahin Abdi, stressed that the farmers would air their views and demands of the farmers on crosscutting issues, and would endeavour to promote regional integration of the farmers through trade and good neighbourliness.
“We have a membership that spans 20 million people and we intend to keep them informed of the benefits of integration including the Common Market Protocol that the region is currently implementing’, Kiriro remarked, describing agriculture as a vital sector in the economies of the Regional Economic Communities.
‘Agriculture in this region is basically small scale but has got its uniqueness. The EAFF will like to see agriculture that guarantees food and revenue to the farmers in a sustainable manner while at the same time creating surplus for external markets’ the President added.
EAFF CEO Stephen Muchiri noted that the Federation was fully involved in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme process up to and including monitoring of the associated budgets.
The EAFF delegation which has an observer status at the EAC had earlier on met with the EAC Secretary General, Amb. Richard Sezibera, who welcomed EAFF’s interest in the EAC and informed the farmers’ representatives that implementation of the Food Security Action Plan was ongoing.
EAFF is a non-political, non-profit and a democratic apex organization of all
farmers of Eastern Africa. Its Membership is made up of member organizations from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, DRC, Eritrea and Ethiopia; and its role is to voice legitimate concerns and interests of farmers of the region with the aim of enhancing regional cohesiveness and social-economic status of the farmers.
Much earlier Speaker Abdi had urged the farmers’ movement in the EAC region to consolidate and notch up its participation in the integration process for the benefit of the farming fraternity and citizens at large.
Consequently, the Speaker pledged the Assembly’s support towards the enactment of relevant laws to protect the interests of the farming community.
Abdi noted that the grouping had a fundamental and critical role to play in the social, economic and political integration of the EAC region.
Abdi pledged the Assembly’s support to EAFF and said he was keen to see both organizations collaborate further to actualize a regional law on Co-operatives which it is thinking about.
‘Farmers are an integral part of our development not only for food security and secure livelihood reasons, but EAFF can be of much help in delivering the EAC integration dream particularly in areas of co-operation in technology transfer and the participation of ordinary people in the integration journey’, he said.