The European Union and FAO along with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Program (WFP) signed US $14m deal in a bid to tackle global food security. The agreements were finalized by EU Commissioner in charge of International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, and FAO Director-General, Jose Graziano da Silva.
According to media reports, the first project will aim to empower rural women as key actors in improving nutrition and food security. The second will support global food security governance mechanisms. This is inclusive of promoting greater involvement by civil society in policymaking. The last one will look into leveraging private sector funding to support agricultural development projects.
In a statement released by the organization, the first two initiatives are collaborative programs that will be co-operated by FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the UN’s World Food Program (WFP). Furthermore, the investment program will be run by FAO in close cooperation with the Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development.
Graziano da Silva said that the FAO-EU relationship is a strong, well-established partnership with a long track record of successful teamwork and collaboration. He further expressed his gratitude to EU for their support in the quest for eradicating world hunger. According to him, the first collaborative project, will build off a joint proposal for mainstreaming gender considerations into rural development drawn up by FAO, IFAD and WFP.
They will then ensure that this approach is firmly embedded in all of the work they do in the field. Ensuring a strong global dialogue The second project will provide support to the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) with governments to come up with a common global agenda for tackling hunger and malnutrition.
The third project will enhance FAO-European Commission collaboration in the area of investment support, and is geared towards encouraging private investments in agrifood systems that are sustainable and have a strong development impact.
