IGAD, FAO Explore Avenues To Enhance Zero Hunger Partnership

07 November 2018, Djibouti (Djibouti) – The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), H.E. Amb. (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim, and the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Subregional Coordinator for Eastern Africa (FAO), David Phiri, today co-chaired the IGAD-FAO Technical Coordination Meeting held at the IGAD Secretariat in Djibouti.

The technical coordination meeting explored avenues of enhancing the existing cooperation between the two organizations guided by past successes and lessons learned over several years of a fruitful partnership.  It also looked at new areas of possible collaboration, in view of the 16 October 2018 Aide Memoire signed between FAO and IGAD on in Rome, Italy.

The IGAD Executive Secretary noted the excellent quality, strong and longstanding relationship between the two entities. “We have previous achievements together, we have ongoing projects, and there are some projects in the pipeline. We have always been committed and on course for this relationship to continue”, he said. Amb Maalim announced to his counterpart that there are plans for an IGAD Heads of State and Government Summit to be held early in 2019 on the subject of drought resilience.

The FAO Subregional Coordinator for Eastern Africa also acknowledged the excellent collaboration between FAO and IGAD over the years, during which great strides had been made by IGAD and its member states in improving resilience in the subregion, including with support from FAO and other partners.

“Despite the intensity of East Africa’s last drought (2016-2017), loss of human life was minimal. Of course even one person lost to hunger is one too many, but the prevalence and intensity was much reduced due to resilience building efforts”, he said.

Some of the new areas of partnership discussed include the development of bankable projects, development of regional information products and reports, Institutionalisation of the food security and nutrition information system through strengthening the Food Security and Nutrition Working Group and support/consolidate the parliamentarian forum for food security and nutrition initiative.

The meetings also agreed to explore joint resource mobilization in the following areas: post-harvest loss management, governance of fisheries resources in coastal countries, the second phase of the livestock marketing project, migration/refugees/internal displacement/ land degradation nexus, and pastoral (including cross border) cluster programming.

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