$1m from World Bank and Japanese govt to boost food security

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has welcomed a US $1 million boost from the World Bank and the Japanese government to help launch the SADC Agricultural Productivity Programme. At the signing ceremony on Tuesday SADC executive secretary Dr Augusto Tomaz Salomao said the problems of food security and HIV/AIDS "go together, because you cannot give antiretroviral drugs when people do not have food - you need nutrition." The funds will go to the Southern Africa Multi-country Agricultural Productivity Programme (SADC-MAPP) to improve SADC and member state capacity in agricultural productivity and competitiveness, in a region grappling with food security and HIV/AIDS.