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Food security for world's poorest countries: FAO launches N1.2billion agricultural projects in West Africa
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The projects, estimated at N1.2 billion ($10m), are part of the FAO's Trust Fund for Food Security aimed at improving agricultural output and create new marketing opportunities for producers in five African countries. This new initiative is financed by a contribution from the Italian Government.
The countries targeted for support are Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali , Senegal and Sierra Leone . Aside from their close proximity to one another, they have another feature in common - all of them suffer from alarming levels of poverty and malnutrition. In some cases, up to 70 percent of the population is living below the poverty line.
Two of these countries are still reeling from the effects of civil war and are slowly beginning the arduous task of reconstruction. Basic infrastructure in these countries such as schools, roads and hospitals have been either badly damaged or destroy. The problem however being compounded by a range of other factors, including political instability, crushing foreign debt and lack of educational opportunities.
In Mali , the underlying causes of the difficult situation lie not in conflicts but in a general weakening of the country's economy. Poor harvests, inadequate rainfall and increasing desertification have all taken a heavy toll in a country where 95 percent of agriculture is rain fed.
All five countries have a striking demographic statistic in common: the average age of the population is extremely low. In Mali and Senegal , 47 percent of the inhabitants is under 15; in Sierra Leone , 42 percent is under 15 and 75 percent is under 35.
"These projects target food insecurity, taking into account the complex nature of its causes and offering a variety of options for overcoming it.Priorities have been identified together with national governments." said José María Sumpsi, FAO's Assistant Director-General ,Technical Cooperation Department.
In all five the countries, the FAO's projects would focus on agriculture as a major tool for reducing poverty and increasing food security. However, they also recognize that boosting output alone is not enough, and that any strategy must include initiatives to improve the commercialization of products.
One key element in each project will be training and apprenticeship activities for local producers' associations, delivered via farmer field schools. These will teach farmers how to store and conserve products so that they are not forced to sell all their crops straight after harvest.
"In countries where between 40 and 50 percent of the adult population has never been to school, farmers will learn more efficient agricultural practices, but also how to set up a small enterprise, how to make the most of the few resources they have available and how to produce value-added agricultural products for the market," said Kevin Gallagher, a senior FAO expert for programme development.
Currently there are 852 million food insecure people in the world. Through projects in over one hundred countries worldwide the SPFS promotes effective, tangible solutions to the elimination of hunger, under nourishment and poverty. To maximize the impact of its work, the SPFS strongly promotes national ownership and local empowerment in the countries in which it operates. Since 1995, US$770 million from donors and national governments have been invested in FAO-designed food security programmes through its Special Programme For Food Security (SPFS) initiative
The countries targeted for support are Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali , Senegal and Sierra Leone . Aside from their close proximity to one another, they have another feature in common - all of them suffer from alarming levels of poverty and malnutrition. In some cases, up to 70 percent of the population is living below the poverty line.
Two of these countries are still reeling from the effects of civil war and are slowly beginning the arduous task of reconstruction. Basic infrastructure in these countries such as schools, roads and hospitals have been either badly damaged or destroy. The problem however being compounded by a range of other factors, including political instability, crushing foreign debt and lack of educational opportunities.
In Mali , the underlying causes of the difficult situation lie not in conflicts but in a general weakening of the country's economy. Poor harvests, inadequate rainfall and increasing desertification have all taken a heavy toll in a country where 95 percent of agriculture is rain fed.
All five countries have a striking demographic statistic in common: the average age of the population is extremely low. In Mali and Senegal , 47 percent of the inhabitants is under 15; in Sierra Leone , 42 percent is under 15 and 75 percent is under 35.
"These projects target food insecurity, taking into account the complex nature of its causes and offering a variety of options for overcoming it.Priorities have been identified together with national governments." said José María Sumpsi, FAO's Assistant Director-General ,Technical Cooperation Department.
In all five the countries, the FAO's projects would focus on agriculture as a major tool for reducing poverty and increasing food security. However, they also recognize that boosting output alone is not enough, and that any strategy must include initiatives to improve the commercialization of products.
One key element in each project will be training and apprenticeship activities for local producers' associations, delivered via farmer field schools. These will teach farmers how to store and conserve products so that they are not forced to sell all their crops straight after harvest.
"In countries where between 40 and 50 percent of the adult population has never been to school, farmers will learn more efficient agricultural practices, but also how to set up a small enterprise, how to make the most of the few resources they have available and how to produce value-added agricultural products for the market," said Kevin Gallagher, a senior FAO expert for programme development.
Currently there are 852 million food insecure people in the world. Through projects in over one hundred countries worldwide the SPFS promotes effective, tangible solutions to the elimination of hunger, under nourishment and poverty. To maximize the impact of its work, the SPFS strongly promotes national ownership and local empowerment in the countries in which it operates. Since 1995, US$770 million from donors and national governments have been invested in FAO-designed food security programmes through its Special Programme For Food Security (SPFS) initiative
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