Italy funds FAO agro-projects in West Africa

The Italian government is to provide $10 million for a new initiative to help fund agricultural projects in five African countries.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced the funding boost, saying it would aim to revive agricultural output and create new marketing opportunities for African farmers.

The countries of Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone, will benefit from the aid package. The funding is part of a commitment by the Italian government to give $100 million to the FAO's trust fund for food security. A total of $75.7 million has been spent to date.

“These projects target food insecurity, taking into account the complex nature of its causes and offering a variety of options for overcoming it," said FAO assistant director-general José María Sumpsi, from the agency’s technical cooperation department. “Priorities have been identified together with national governments.”

The FAO said a key element in each project will be training and apprenticeship activities for local producers’ associations, delivered via farmer field schools. These will teach farmers how to store and conserve products so that they are not forced to sell all their crops straight after harvest.

“In countries where between 40 and 50 percent of the adult population has never been to school, farmers will learn more efficient agricultural practices, but also how to set up a small enterprise, how to make the most of the few resources they have available and how to produce value-added agricultural products for the market,” said Kevin Gallagher, a senior FAO expert for programme development.

In Mali, the FAO said the underlying causes of the difficult situation lie not in conflicts but in a general weakening of the country’s economy. Poor harvests, inadequate rainfall and increasing desertification have all taken a heavy toll, the FAO said.

In all five countries, the projects will focus on agriculture as a major tool for reducing poverty and increasing food security. But they also recognise that boosting output alone is not enough, and that any strategy must include initiatives to improve the commercialisation of products.

This new initiative in West Africa follows a number of other FAO/Italy projects already under way in Central and East Africa (Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda) and in Southern Africa (Malawi and Zambia).

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