Malawi to Host Food Security Forum
By Staff Writer
Lilongwe--The Federation of National Associations of Women in Business in Eastern and Southern Africa (FEMCOM) in collaboration with the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA), will from March 28-30, 2011, hold a regional consultative forum on food security and women in business.
Participating countries include; Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe and the host Malawi.
FEMCOM is one of the umbrella associations involved in the implementation of the European Union supported COMESA Regional Agro Inputs Programme (COMRAP).
ACTESA has the mandate to coordinate COMRAP implementation and is working closely with FEMCOM in this regard to ensure appropriate gender mainstreaming in the COMRAP and other ACTESA led initiatives.
COMRAP has the overall objective of contributing to improving rural food security and livelihoods in the COMESA region through training and capacity building of national and regional input providers and harmonization of related regional legal frameworks.
It is expected that the consultative forum will provide a conducive environment for COMESA member States to deliberate on appropriate programmes that will integrate women into trade and development through COMRAP activities within the region. But above all, this activity is a step towards contributing to the overall objective of ACTESA and COMESA in the agriculture sector which is to improve agriculture production and enhance food security within the region.
FEMCOM is a COMESA institution, established in July 1993 under Article 155 of the COMESA Treaty and the Secretariat is hosted in Malawi.
The main objective of FEMCOM is to promote programmes that integrate women into trade and development activities in the region, in particular, in the fields of agriculture, industry, trade, services, fishing, mining, energy, transport, communications and natural resources. FEMCOM was founded on the idea that regional economic integration cannot be seen to have succeeded if it did not involve the full and equal participation of women in business.
FEMCOM is re-positioning itself to become a key player in regional trade activities at different levels especially in the agriculture sector which is dominated by women.
The consultative forum will attract 60 participants from COMESA member States including representatives of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).