FAO and IDB Sign USD 1 Billion Agreement
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) announced that they have signed a USD 1 billion agreement to finance agriculture development projects in 26 least-developed IDB member countries. The agreement, inked earlier this week by Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of IDB, and FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, is expected to help leverage additional resources and bring total investment in the IDB-FAO program to USD 5 billion by 2012.
FAO said in a press release that the deal "comes at a critical moment, when the international community recognizes it has neglected agriculture for many years." The UN agency also said that the two institutions share the same vision and strategy and will continue working together in improving rural infrastructure, promoting local economic development and enhancing food security while strengthening and revitalizing their cooperation.
For more information, read http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/37341/icode/
This article is part of the Crop Biotech Update, a weekly summary of world developments in agri-biotech for developing countries, produced by the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, International Service for the Aquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications SEAsiaCenter (ISAAA)
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