Report of the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) Workshop

Abstract

This reports presents outcomes of a workshop that PACA convened as its first organizational planning meeting under the auspices of the AUC in Nairobi, Kenya on October 3-4, 2011 sponsored by USAID. Forty-one participants representing AUC member countries, regional economic communities (REC), trade organizations, donors, NGOs, farmers’ organizations, the private sector, and technical experts attended. In March 2011 at the 7th CAADP Partnership Platform meeting in Yaoundé, Cameroon, African leadership requested that the African Union Commission (AUC) explore a Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) and link it to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) process. Following this, at the tenth annual Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum in Lusaka, Zambia the USG announced that $12 million of FY11 USG funds from Feed the Future and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had been designated to support aflatoxin programs across Africa to strengthen the PACA priorities. It is anticipated that this funding will be complemented by other public and private funders. The Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) aims to be an innovative, Africa-owned and led consortium to coordinate aflatoxin mitigation across the health, agriculture and trade sectors of Africa, servings as a holistic model for a multisectoral solution. It will be embedded within existing African institutions and is aligned with the CAADP process to leverage existing continent wide harmonization efforts.