Malawian President Joyce Banda has set
poverty alleviation as the top priority of her tenure as incoming chair of
SADC, promising to champion policies and programmes to improve the agricultural
and rural sectors.
Noting the linkage between poverty and
political stability, Banda said the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) should redouble efforts to reduce hunger in the region.
Promising to bring SADC “closer to the
people”, Banda said she would target ending “the contemporary, deliberate and
savage violence of poverty and underdevelopment” during the coming year.
“To win this war …we must promote
inclusive politics. In this, we cannot afford to leave the youth behind. We
cannot afford to leave women behind. We cannot afford to leave the poor to look
after the poor,” Banda said in her acceptance speech during the 33rd SADC
Ordinary Summit held in Lilongwe, Malawi on 17-18 August.
She said agriculture is the backbone
of most economies in the region, yet little is being done to support the
sector.
“Stimulating this sector would
transform the livelihoods of our people and provide the foundation for the
future development of our nations,” she said.
“We therefore, need to work harder to
help our smallholder and commercial farmers to build, grow and sustain their
businesses, to feed ourselves and access new markets beyond our region,” she
said, noting that the theme for her tenure is “Agricultural Development and
Agro-Industries: Key to Economic Growth and Poverty Eradication.”
Among other things, the incoming SADC
chair promised to push for innovative agricultural policies and programmes in
the region such as effective extension services and affordable inputs which
have the capacity to promote rural development and boost food security.
She said any policies on agriculture
and rural development should be aligned to other regional plans on
infrastructure and industrial development as well as gender development.
“We sincerely hope that economic
policy coordination in the SADC system will be harnessed in order not only to
accelerate growth but also to reduce poverty, widen economic opportunities and
enhance human development.”
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