Share & more
UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Director-General Jacques Diouf called on Thursday for more investment in rural Africa so that its 200 million malnourished people could live better.
He told African agriculture ministers at a Cairo meeting that the high level of malnutrition was "largely due to the limited possibilities" of food production for domestic consumption and to poor distribution networks and markets, the FAO reported.
Overcoming this deficit, he said, would need greater investment in small-scale irrigation; the harnessing of rainwater; rehabilitation and conservation of soils; storage and processing facilities; as well as rural roads and markets.
"An estimated thirty-seven million dollars are needed for water control and land improvement infrastructure alone," he added.
Diouf also told the ministers that HIV/AIDS also constituted "a real threat" to agricultural development and food security in Africa, where 24.5 million people "are affected" by the pandemic.
The five-day Cairo meeting, which ends on Friday, has been focused on preparations for a five-year follow-up conference to the World Food Summit in Rome, due to be held in the Italian capital on 10-13 June.
Diouf said the FAO would continue to support the New Partnership for Africa's Development, set up at the July 2001 summit of the Organisation of African Unity in Lusaka, Zambia. The initiative emphasises the importance of food security and agriculture on a continent where most people still live in rural areas, despite increasing urbanisation.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
