With the donation of $30 million,
about N4, 724,096,988 Equatorial Guinea has contributed to a new solidarity
trust fund on the February 22, 2013 that aims to organize African financial
resources in support of strengthening food security on the continent, reports
India Education.
The first donation to the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund was made official in a
ceremony at the limits of the third Africa-South America Summit in Malabo,
attended by FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.
Speaking at a meeting with the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang
Nguema Mbasogo, Graziano da Silva said that before the signature of the
donation agreement, “that the contribution was a sign of the country's
commitment to eradicate hunger in Africa.”
NaijaAgroNet reports that Maria Helena Semedo (FAO Regional Representative in
Africa), who signed the agreement on behalf of FAO, also said that the generous
contribution by Equatorial Guinea will help transform political will to end
hunger into concrete action.
She also invited other countries to
follow this example and lend their financial support as well.
Further, NaijaAgroNet gathered that the goal
of the new trust fund is to get resources from Africa's strongest economies and
use them across the continent to support national and regional food security
initiatives aimed at eradicating hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.
NaijaAgroNet recalls that the idea
of the fund was launched during FAO's April 2012 regional conference held in
the Republic of Congo, when the host President Denis Sassou Nguesso, called for
greater solidarity between African nations to fight hunger.
Apart from Equatorial Guinea, other African countries like Angola have
expressed their intention to contribute to the fund, as President José Eduardo
dos Santos told Graziano da Silva when he visited Luanda in late January 2013.
The Africa Solidarity Trust Fund is intended to complement
and not to replace development assistance from overseas donors.
At the onset, it will focus in
particular on strengthening the flexibility of rural families and communities
in the face of recurrent famine and other crises.
FAO regional representative also
said that "We can end hunger in Africa if we work together under the
leadership of African governments and regional institutions, learning from one
another through South-South cooperation and other exchanges".
Semedo also explained that the
effort should involve not only governments and international organizations like
FAO, but also civil society, the private sector, academia and other partners.
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