World Food Day (16.10.18)
On this World Food Day, France reaffirms that 821 million people are currently undernourished or chronically food insecure (The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018, published under the guidance of the FAO).
In line with the conclusions of the Interministerial International Cooperation and Development Committee (CICID) of February 8, France is strengthening its support, notably in Africa and in particular in the Sahel, for inclusive rural development and family farming, improved nutrition for the populations and territorial and chain approaches. It is notably strengthening its support for the FAO through the multilateral channel, in particular with respect to the adaptation of agriculture to climate change, the employment of rural youth, the resilience of populations in the Sahel, and the World Food Program, notably in order to address food insecurity through its operations in the Sahel and in the Horn of Africa.
France is taking action in particular through its food aid grant package, which amounted to €34 million in 2018. France has supported an initiative in Senegal for several years that promotes the resilience of rural communities. In Niger, the AAP (French food aid program) supports a project to strengthen rural communities’ resilience with respect to food insecurity by providing support for school cafeterias and land rehabilitation.
The French Development Agency (AFD) also contributes to sustainably improving the situation of rural and urban households by supporting changes in agricultural systems to make them more productive, fairer, more eco-friendly, and resilient to climate change and other risks, better taking into account the impacts on food and health. The AFD is contributing to these goals by supporting the stepping up of eco-friendly agricultural practices and the development of sustainable farming. In 2016, AFD funding for food security in sub-Saharan Africa amounted to €603 million.
France encourages actors involved in development to mobilize to reduce food insecurity and malnutrition, which affect more than one in nine people worldwide. In line with the latest status report on food security and nutrition in the world, which stresses the relationship between food insecurity and climate change and shows the links between climate variability, climate extremes, and increased hunger, it calls for continuing collective efforts to combat climate change.
In the coming months, France will adopt a new international strategy for food security.