Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA: The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on Thursday welcomed 83 million USD contribution from the USA to its emergency and resilience programs.
“FAO today welcomed an 83 million USD contribution from the United States of America designed to bolster the agency’s emergency and resilience programmes in Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Sudan, as well as in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, the Sahel and the West Africa region,” the FAO said in a statement.
According to the FAO, the funding will boost efforts in Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Sudan; Sahel and Coastal West Africa also among the list of recipients
It follows a recent commitment of 80 million USD from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) specifically focused on improving food security and nutrition in Afghanistan.
“We are grateful to the United States of America for this important contribution towards FAO’s mandate,” the statement quoted FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, as saying.
“Safeguarding the rural livelihoods of the vulnerable is central to averting catastrophe and saving lives through the development of local production. Such funding is critical to respond agilely and at scale in food crisis contexts,” Dongyu said.
Given its mandate to end hunger, its longstanding country presence, and its substantial expertise and experience in both humanitarian and development contexts, FAO has a unique role to play in preventing and addressing acute hunger and supporting countries that are experiencing food crises return to a path of growth and prosperity.
Protecting livelihoods by providing emergency agricultural assistance from the onset of a crisis enables people to produce food and earn an income, while a rapid and efficient response to agricultural threats and emergencies saves lives, promotes recovery and reduces the gap between dependency on food assistance and self-reliance.
The new contribution was announced by Ambassador Cindy McCain, Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the UN agencies in Rome. The funds are designed to improve the availability and access to food in crises contexts, by supplying aid and technical assistance to smallholder farmers and livestock-dependent communities, focusing on crop and livestock production, it said.
The Unites States of America has been the largest resource partner of FAO’s humanitarian and resilience program since 2017. The latest contribution, part of the annual support from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, represents a three-fold increase in funds from the previous year.
FAO’s work in Ethiopia stands to receive 32 million USD in emergency support to improve crop production in the Tigray region, where conflict is a key driver of severe food shortages.
FAO is already scaling up the urgent delivery of fertilizers in the northern Ethiopian region to help farmers sow their fields in the midst of the crucial planting season.
The new funds is expected to facilitate the targeted distribution of agricultural inputs, such as fertilizers and seeds, and the training of 344 000 households (involving an estimated 1 720 000 people) on fertilizer application and handling, good agronomic practices, post-harvest handling and value addition.
(Photo- FAO/Michael Tewelde)
