FAO confirms will to stand by the African Union

In June 2014, the African Union summit, in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, endorsed the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods. One of the seven commitments that were adopted, ‘Ending Hunger in Africa by 2025’, grew out of the Renewed Partnership to End Hunger in Africa by 2025, involving the African Union Commission, its NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency (NPCA), the Institute Lula and FAO among other partners.

‘At FAO, we are proud to have partnered with the African Union and the Lula Institute in contributing to the Declaration to End Hunger in Africa by 2025. With a focused set of actions at national, sub-regional and continental levels, the investments and commitment we make to alleviating hunger on the continent are critical prerequisites to achieving the African vision articulated in the Agenda 2063’, declared Ms Maria-Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General, in an intervention at a High-Level event to mark the official Launch of the AU Strategy and Roadmap for facilitating the 2014 Malabo Commitments on agriculture.

Concretely, FAO has enhanced its assistance to four initial focus countries - Angola, Ethiopia, Malawi and Niger - to design and deliver value-added actions in support of their efforts to end hunger. Actions has focused on strategic partnerships with respect to investment, nutrition and social protection at country level, through South-South Cooperation (SSC) and other forms of collaboration between countries, UN agencies and other development partners such as the Civil Society, the private sector and the donor community.

AUC Commissioner for Rural Economy, H.E. Mrs. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, and NEPAD’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, underlined the importance of leadership, partnership and regional collaboration in the development of the Declaration and Roadmap as well as its implementation.

‘Through technical support, we ensure that particular care addresses targets to at least double productivity, reduce post-harvest losses at least by half and improve nutrition by reducing underweight to 5% and stunting to 10%’, points out Bukar Tijani, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, who is also present at the AU Summit.

FAO facilitates the learning from countries that have achieved the Zero Hunger Challenge.

The AU High Level Event also marks the formal closure of the 2014 African Year of Agriculture and Food Security that coincided with the UN Year of Family Farming.

The dual celebration highlighted the need to increase the resilience of vulnerable households to climatic and economic shocks, to provide producers  with the knowledge, credit and technology to be productive and competitive , to create jobs and livelihoods for young people and to increase economic value-added by reducing food waste, producing healthy food as well as strengthening institutions.