Belgium to donate $7 million to UN agency to aid poor African farmers

Poor farmers in four African countries are set to receive $6.6 million in emergency assistance funding from Belgium, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced today.

The new Belgian Development Cooperation financing for the UN agency’s programmes will directly support tens of thousands of struggling farmers in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia and Niger.

This latest contribution brings the European nation’s total support to FAO projects in Africa to $80 million over the past six years.

“Belgium is one of the most consistently supportive donors to FAO’s emergency work, something which is very much appreciated and its latest show of generous support will help improve the livelihood and food security of thousands of vulnerable people,” said Laurent Thomas, Director of FAO’s Emergency Operations and Rehabilitation Division.

Nearly $3 million of the grant will go directly to supporting farming households whose livelihoods have suffered from the conflict in the DRC. Cassava and sweet potatoes cuttings as well as hand tools, vegetable and other crop seeds will be distributed to around 25,000 farmers.

Another 4,000 farmers in the country will receive basic training in machinery and how to repair warehouses and roads for better storage and transportation of harvested produce, as well as backing to boost maize production to meet market demand.

In a joint initiative with the World Food Programme (WFP) known as Purchase for Progress (P4P), the agencies buy produce from local farmers and distribute the food to hungry people in the region.

Some $2 million of the Belgium donation will go to neighbouring Burundi to assist ex-soldiers return to farming and help farming households hit by floods and high food prices. The rest of the contribution will go to support farmers in drought-stricken Niger and Ethiopia.