Kenyas deputy President William Ruto asked African countries\nto protect their farmers by buyung local products as part of efforts to boost\nproduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said there was need to come up with measures aimed at protecting local industries and farmers form cheap imports, urging African nations to trade more with each other. The deputy President said Kenya was committed to working closely with other states to speed up regional and continental integration as part of efforts to boost trade <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Deputy President said Kenya was committed to working \nclosely with other states to speed up regional and continental \nintegration as part of efforts to boost trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
He said Kenya was among those countries, which have agreed that \ncontinental and regional integration is the path to transforming African\n countries from being developing to developed economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking during the 15th Comprehensive Africa Agricultural \nDevelopment Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform meeting held in \nNairobi, the Deputy President said Kenya is determined to pursue free \ntrade and regional integration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr Ruto said Kenya was not only the first country to sign the free \ntrade area agreement but also took the lead in ratifying it so as to \nuse its boundaries as bridges to share its prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to persuade you, political and knowledge leaders that this \nis our moment to take steps that change the fortunes of our continent,\u201d\n said the Deputy President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The theme of the meeting was \u2018Enhancing Trade and Market for Accelerated Agriculture Transformation\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFrom our East African Community, which has made tremendous \nprogress towards maximum integration, to Common Market for Eastern and \nSouthern Africa (COMESA), which is the largest common market at its \nlevel of integration, the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) \nis a logical next step in our national vision of greater integration,\u201d \nsaid Dr Ruto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said African countries must embrace economic and political \nintegration in order to spur prosperity and ensure strategic security \nfor their citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Deputy President said African countries have applied themselves \n strongly to creating policies and programmes that ease these critical \n challenges, but the success rate has persistently failed to reflect the\n efforts invested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the move can be discouraging, and may lead to pessimism and widespread skepticism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA continent-wide approach offers many benefits, including scale, \nbreadth, diversity and flexibility. This is why CAADP has become \nincreasingly critical to African problem-solving and African \ndevelopment,\u201d said the Deputy President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said agriculture remains key in unlocking opportunities for sustainable development in the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen we compare agriculture\u2019s contribution to our GDPs with our \ncollective share of world trade, we draw the unhappy observation that \nagriculture forms a big portion of a very tiny pie indeed,\u2019 said Dr \nRuto. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He called on the need to optimize agriculture through implementation \nof ideas that deliberately build and exploit the many complementarities \nlocated in the sector and its value chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said access to markets, research and technology dissemination and \n increased food production are vital components of complementary \ncommitments that aim to boost African countries\u2019 individual domestic, as\n well as collective continent-wide production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis partnership platform is Africa\u2019s policy framework for \nagricultural transformation, wealth creation, food security and \nnutrition, economic growth and prosperity for all,\u201d said Dr Ruto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n