Assembly/AU/Dec.540(XXIII) Page 2 8. WELCOMES the innovative partnership between NPCA and major International NGOs to strengthen grassroot adaptive capacity to climate change and boost agricultural productivity. SPECIFICALLY REQUESTS the NPCA in collaboration with FAO to provide technical assistance to Member States in the implementation of the NEPAD Climate Smart Agriculture programme and the African Development Bank and development partners to provide support to Member States for investments in climate smart agriculture; 9. COMMENDS the on-going implementation actions by the NPCA in promoting NEPAD programmes on food security and nutrition, gender empowerment, sustainable land and water management WHILE EMPHASIZING the need to ensure that Africa‟s growth trajectory provides opportunities for the youth and foster rural transformation. DIRECTS NPCA to upscale the implementation of the Rural Futures Programme with a stronger emphasis on youth employment. FURTHER AGREES that the AUC and NPCA should develop policies on labourmarket relationship favourable to foster youth employment and invest in practical actions targeting skills development and making agriculture more attractive to the African youth; 10. WARMLY WELCOMES the announcement by the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of a grant of USD 4 million to support the NPCA in facilitating the implementation of the Agency‟s job creation programme for the youth in the agriculture sector; 11. ACKNOWLEDGING the multi-sectorial nature of Agriculture and its central role in driving rural transformation, REQUESTS NPCA through its Rural Futures Programme to provide technical support to strengthen alignment between agricultural and national development policies and rural development programmes; 12. RECOMMITS to the CAADP Maputo Decision and IN RECOGNIZING the continued need to support Member States to effectively monitor the 10% target in agriculture budget allocation, REQUESTS the NPCA in collaboration with FAO to undertake a study and develop guidelines to help Member States improve the quality of resource allocation to agriculture to determine the real value and relativity to the GDP size; 13. RECALLS the Decisions Assembly/AU/Dec.488(XXI) and Assembly/AU/Dec.508(XXII) and NOTES WITH SATISTFACTION the outcomes of the Dakar Financing Summit for Africa‟s Infrastructure held in Dakar, Senegal on 15 June 2014 under the distinguished leadership of H.E. Macky SALL, President of the Republic of Senegal and Chairperson of HSGOC, which promoted the strengthening of innovative synergies between the public and private sectors to mobilize pan-African and global financial investments for infrastructure development in the continent; 14. ACCORDINGLY ENDORSES the Dakar Agenda for Action adopted by the Summit to move forward the financing for Africa‟s infrastructure and VALIDATES the policy