UN Announces First Countries Set to Benefit from African-Led Food Security Fund

A unique, Africa-led United Nations-backed fund designed to improve food security across the continent has become a reality for the first six countries slated to benefit from the initiative.

The Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, the Niger and South Sudan have signed agreements in Tunis, Tunisia, with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to receive $2 million each from the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund. The agreements were signed during the FAO Regional Conference for Africa in the Tunisian capital, which opened on Monday, 24 March and concluded on 28 March with a reaffirmation of its commitment to food security and sustainable development.

"The Africa Solidarity Trust Fund shows that African countries are ready to step up and work with their neighbours to build a sustainable and food secure region, and to have the future we want," said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, who encouraged other African Governments to join the effort and contribute to the Fund.

A final report adopted by the Conference recognized the importance of enhancing the business opportunities that agriculture offers to African youth as a pathway to social inclusion, food security, and sustainable development.

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