The UNCCD secretariat, (Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) and the Common Fund for Commoditiesthe Common Fund For Commodities (CFC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have launched the first African Drylands Commodity Atlas. The Atlas highlights the importance of commodities for primary agricultural production in African countries. It enhances the understanding of national policy makers in dryland LeastDeveloped Countries (LDCs), development partners and other stakeholders on the possibilities and potential opportunities to achieve poverty reduction through environmentally sustainable and economically profitable commodity production drylands.
The Dryland Commodity Atlas seeks to facilitate the on-going stakeholder dialogue process and to build consensus for commodity strategies that integrate the trade potential of dryland commodities into relevant national policy areas and the National Action Programs (NAPs) to com-bat desertification.
For trade to have an impact on poverty reduction in LDCs, it needs to be an integral part of each country’s development strategy, and it also needs to be integrated in the relevant commodity strategies and NAPs. This requires raising awareness and information exchange to promote active engagement on several fronts by a wide range of diverse stakeholders. The atlas also highlights the potential for and the weakness of trade within the African continent.
The Atlas is available for free download (pdf, 5.8mb) (87 pages)
