This was the key message at the Russia-Africa Summit held in Sochi in the Russian Federation last week. Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa attended the forum which focused on key areas of cooperation between Russia and African countries. President Ramaphosa commended Russia for the support it provided to African countries during the struggle against colonialism and apartheid and likened the Russia-Africa forum to a second wave of support by Russia towards the economic developmental agenda of Africa. This comes after he concluded his working visit to the Russian Federation where he attended the inaugural Russia-Africa Summit last week. Ramaphosa characterised the summit as a meaningful engagement.

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South Africa's Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, has been elected chairperson of the African Union (AU) Specialised Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment. This was during a meeting by the committee in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last week.  Didiza said an action plan needs to be put in place by the committee to look at the human resource capacity and budget for programmes agreeing to that. This AU committee mainly focuses on food and nutrition security, reducing poverty, boosting intra African trade and enhancing resilience to climate change, related shocks and disasters. Didiza also emphasised the committee focuses on the issue of climate change and its impact on the agricultural sector as its effects are a reality in regions experiencing severe drought, while others are experiencing heavy rainfall.  

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