The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) have entered a partnership to enhance the development of sustainable agriculture and agribusiness; food and nutrition security; regional integration; and trade on the continent.
The two entities from the United Nations ecosystem will complement
each other, FAO in its individual capacity as a champion of a hunger and malnutrition-free world through improved agriculture; and ECA as a regional commission that promotes economic and social development by fostering international cooperation among member states.
“The FAO and ECA share common goals and objectives and recognize the importance of undertaking concerted and coordinated programmes to further these common goals and objectives, based on the reciprocal recognition of each party’s role and responsibilities,” ECA Acting Executive Secretary, Abdalla Hamdok said.
ECA and FAO will cooperate to develop strategies for policy assistance, statistics, the regional coordination mechanism (RCM), population dynamics and urban-rural linkages and governance among others.
In priority areas, they will undertake joint projects and activities.
Hamdok signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) providing the framework for the collaboration on behalf of ECA.
He noted the MoU’s relevance as it comes at a time when challenges facing the continent’s agricultural sector, which is the backbone of many African economies, should be addressed.
They include the need to stop the exportation of raw commodities from Africa, add value, and update technology to increase yields and finance.
According to the FAO Director General Natural Resources, Maria Helena Semedo who signed for the FAO, the challenges ahead are feeding a population of two billion by 2050 and climate change.
She raised the need for cooperation in agriculture, nutrition, rural development and agro-business while urging the adoption of technology to transform the sector to improve productivity and to contribute to the overall transformation of Africa’s economy.