FAO and the Pan-African Parliament launch the Pan African Parliamentary Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition to Shore Up Food Security and Nutrition in Africa

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) signed today in Egypt a key Memorandum of Understanding with the Pan-African Parliament, announcing the establishment of the Pan African Parliamentary Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (PAPA-FSN).

This agreement is part of a broad strategy to step a partnership and mobilize key actors in the society with the aim to ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030.

Conveying the message of FAO Director-General to the pan-African parliamentarians from the 54 countries of the African Union, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa, Mr. Adessalam Ould Ahmed said that “parliamentarians are central to the process of eradicating hunger and malnutrition”. 

He added: “You have a crucial role in setting the political and legislative agendas; you are the ones that enact laws; you have a budgetary and oversight role on public spending and public policies and national priorities. You have an incomparable influence on public opinion and on society at large.”

He concluded that this alliance is a vivid demonstration by African parliamentarians towards ending hunger and malnutrition. It supports the broader commitment of the African Leaders as outlined in the Malabo Declaration in 2014 for a hunger free Africa.

The President of the Pan African Parliament, Roger Nkodo Dang said: “our alliance puts the battle against hunger on the right pathway, and I am convinced that FAO is the ideal partner based on its notoriety and determination.”

According to this Agreement, a Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) will be put in place, fully aligned with the objectives of the Alliance. The implementation of the TCP will start very soon.