WASHINGTON, April 24, 2014 – Sub-Saharan Africa's efforts to achieve food security received an important boost today with the signing of an agreement that will provide an additional $19 million to the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) administered by the World Bank.
The agreement was signed in Washington, DC by Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, executive director of FARA, and Colin Bruce, World Bank director for regional integration in the Africa region.
These new funds, which are provided by the European Commission, increase total support for FARA to $53 million. These funds support FARA programs for strengthening the capacity of African agricultural research institutions to develop new technologies for Africa’s farmers.
The funding is intended to help Africa to achieve its objective under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) so African countries can reach a higher path of economic growth through agriculture-led development. CAADP is Africa’s initiative to raise agricultural growth on the continent. Under CAADP, the African Union has named 2014 as the Year of African Agriculture and Food Security.
