Table of Contents

9. Under the Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS), assistance in the formulation of water projects was provided to Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda and Togo. Small-scale irrigation projects were formulated and funded under the SPPD by UNDP in Benin, Guinea Bissau, Niger and Nigeria. FAO provided technical assistance to formulate investment pilot projects for the sustainable socio-economic development of oncho-free zones in B�nin, C�te d' Ivoire, S�n�gal Guin�e, Togo and Ghana, with financial support from UNDP. FAO provided assistance and collaborated with regional organisations like ARID, CILSS, ECOWAS, the Lake Chad Basin and UEMOA in the area of institutional strengthening and capacity building relating to water resource development and management. FAO, in cooperatation with SADC, initiated the first phase of a sub-regional programme, "Learning to Live with Drought", which aims to identify and develop technologies, policies and strategies that would enable farming systems to cope with droughts. These included evaluation of water harvesting techniques in Central and West Africa, studies and workshops on peri-urban small-scale irrigation technology and development and an FAO/WMO seminar in Ghana on the application of climatic data for planning and management of sustainable rainfed and irrigated agriculture.

10. FAO-SDRN continues to operate the AFRICOVER project which commenced in 1995 and aims at establishing a digital land-cover database for selected sub-regions in Africa. FAO and IPTRID organised two regional sector consultations in May 1999 on " Water for Food - Vision for the 21^st Century". FAO and the World Bank continue to implement the Regional Environmental Information Management Project (REIMP) in Central Africa involving some 100 organizations from the public, private and NGO sector, and aims at improving and strengthening planning and management of natural resources in the Congo Basin.

b. Crops

11. Member country capacity building for planning and implementation of farmer-based participatory IPM through Farmer's Field Schools activities was continued in a range of crop production systems and the training of trainers and farmers in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. A network of IPM activities at the national level has been established through the Global IPM Facility.

12. FAO has undertaken activities concerning Plant Genetic Resources and Seed Production. During 1998, meetings were held in Benin, Botswana and Cote d'Ivoire, which led to an agreement to establish an African Seed Network.

13. At present, rice intensification is part of the SPFS in 12 African countries. The Organisation and WARDA are working on rapid rice technology diffusion in West Africa and compiling data on rice varieties for different rice ecologies. FAO is supporting the development of new rice varieties and the dissemination of information on rice and other crops through the Internet. A training course. focusing on dairy farming and forage and fodder tree utilisation, was organised for East African Scientists and Extension Officers. . A joint FAO/IT book on pastoral mobility has been published.

14. FAO provided assistance to some countries to assess farmers' practices on plant nutrient management and to implement integrated plant nutrition system (IPNS) field trials. The Organisation implemented two TCP projects on the planning and management of land resources in The Gambia and Ghana. A number of Regional Workshops were organised on management of wetlands, establishment of land resource, land degradation information system and on the state of land resource.

15. Support has been given through projects formulation, such as the crop intensification component of the SPFS in Ghana; advise in the launching of C�te d'Ivoire's SPFS; formulation of the pasture development component in the programme for Burkina Faso; a Regional Collaboration on Control of the Larger Grain Borer and Phytosanitary Issues in Southern Africa; formulation of a concept paper on "Drought Impact Mitigation and Prevention" in Southern and Eastern Africa; development of an information pamphlet on plant molecular biotechnology, covering benefits and potential dangers of transgenic crops in Africa; and a workshop on Global Cassava development Strategy held in Ghana for Central and West African countries in June 1999.

c. Livestock

16. Support was provided for the control and, where possible, eradication of the epidemic of African swine fever (ASF) disease. The disease affected the whole of the West African sub-region, causing huge losses to pig farmers. The epidemic has been brought under control in most countries, but the risk still remains as long as other countries are still infected. Similarly, support was provided for enhancing the control of ticks and tick borne diseases. The network of liaison officers on the Programme Against African Trypanosomiasis (PAAT), through training, information dissemination and technology transfer, was maintained. Support was also given to Senegal and Ghana to conduct small-scale investigations and studies into peri-urban Trypanosomiasis and the conservation of West African Shorthorn cattle through integrated production of crops and livestock. TCP projects were implemented for the control of transboundary diseases in Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and |Zimbabwe and for the control of parasitic diseases in Rwanda and South Africa.

17. The implementation of the FAO Global Strategy for the Management of Farm Animal Genetic Resources was further developed in 1998/99 in collaboration with OAU/IBAR, ILRI and respective Regional Organisations, with a regional UNDP financed Project for the SADC countries.

d. Agricultural Support Systems

18. FAO supported meetings of international organisations such as the West and Central African Farming Systems Network (AASFRET) in Bamako, Mali in September 1998 and IITA's Eco-regional Programme in Ibadan, Nigeria, in November 1998. An international workshop on Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture in West Africa was organised jointly with the International Board for Soil Research and Management (IBSRAM) in August 1999 in Accra, Ghana. A participatory community planning method (PCP) based on the Asian experience is also currently being tried in Ghana.

e. Research and Technology

19. FAO organised an Expert Consultation on Technology Assessment and Transfer for Sustainable Development, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa, in March 1998. The Consultation, attended by 43 participants representing 13 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, considered three groups of technologies viz:

• available technologies;
  
  
• technologies which need adaptive research to meet the conditions of small/medium scale farmers; and
  
  
• new and emerging technologies.

20. Selected research institutes have been assisted by the Organisation in:

• preparing proposals for research projects: ICRA(Institut Centrafricain de Recherche Agronomique);
  
  
• training researchers in scientific writing: CEMAC (Communaut� Economique et Mon�taire de l’Afrique Centrale;
  
  
• developing inventories of available biotechnologies, a new group of powerful tools for research and, ultimately, for accelerating agricultural, forestry and fisheries development.

In the field of international research, FAO continued to support and collaborate with the CGIAR system, SPAAR and sub-regional research organisations, namely ASARECA, CORAF, and SACCAR.

f. Rural Development

21. FAO continued to provide support in the following areas:

• implementation of the DIMITRA project in Africa, whose objective is "to contribute to the improvement of the living conditions or rural women through the dissemination of information, focusing in particular on the crucial role they play (in agricultural production)";
  
  
• establishment of the Community-based Technology Transfer Centre (CTTC) programme to enhance small-scale food producers’ access to innovative technologies to improve household and community food security, within the framework of the Regular Programme follow-up to the World Food Summit.

To enhance the analysis of issues related to privatisation and land tenure, the Organisation:

• started a long-term research project in late 1998, in collaboration with the Centre de Recherche en Economie du D�veloppement, (CRED), at the University of Namur, Belgium, to study the evolution of women’s access to land in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the initial stages, the work will cover two field sites in Western Africa (Burkina Faso and Senegal);
  
  
• is currently undertaking a pilot study on peri-urban land tenure dynamics and agrarian systems in Ghana which will provide guidelines and other tools to address various issues relating to land tenure and its effects on agricultural productivity in the African context.
  
  
• A Rural Youth and Food Security Programme to provide policy advice and development support to rural youth programmes empowering large numbers of young people to become active partners in reaching national food security goals through sustainable development, is under implementation in Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Ghana.

g. Women in Agricultural and Rural Development

22. Women in development (WID) activities continued to be organised during the biennium, within the FAO/WID Plan of Action and the Strategic Framework for the Post-World Food Summit period. A Guide was developed on how to integrate gender concerns into water control activities in the national programmes implemented under the Special Programme for Food Security.

23. FAO continued to provide support in the following ways:

• Enhancing the capacity of member countries to undertake participatory socio-economic and gender analysis (SEAGA) through training. The Organisation has increased its assistance to member countries to incorporate gender disaggregated data in the World Census of Agriculture 2000;
  
  
• Direct assistance to rural women, especially those in distressed situations in Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone, through revitalising their production capacities and marketing infrastructures.

h. Food and Nutrition

24. FAO and WHO continued to provide support for the development of National Plans of Action for Nutrition (NPANS). NPANs have been finalised in 21 African countries, are in draft form in 20 and are being formulated in 6 others.

25. FAO provided technical assistance to 22 countries throughout the region to ensure the quality and safety of food sold and consumed. With World Bank support, food quality control missions were fielded to C�te d'Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, Mauritania and Ghana. Also, FAO collaborated with the Rotary International Hunger, Health and Humanity Programme, the government of the USA, France, and IITA to establish a Mycotoxin Training Network

26. Assistance is being provided to Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa to improve the safety of street foods. Similar programmes are being designed for Burkina-Faso, Mali, Gabon, Mauritania and Cape Verde. A workshop and a regional seminar for francophone Mayors were organised in Cape Verde.

27. Assistance was provided to West African and SADC countries to establish grassroots nutrition training and education programmes. Technical assistance was provided to support training programmes in community nutrition. Assistance is being given to Benin, Ghana, Senegal, Mali, and Guinea to establish national food composition data bases linked to the AFROFOODS and INFOODS databases with UNU support.

28. As a result of the follow-up to the ICN and WFS, FAO is actively fostering and strengthening interagency collaboration at the country, regional and international levels in the area of food security. A workshop on promoting household food security in Eastern and Southern Africa was held in Nairobi, Kenya in late 1998. FAO continues to collaborate with various UN bodies including IFAD, UNDP, UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, WHO, NGOs and IGO, (OAU) to support inter-sectoral work at country level.

i. Food and Agricultural Information and Analysis

29. FAO provided assistance to countries to improve their capacity and capability to produce reliable and timely agricultural statistics and establish sustainable national data collection systems.

30. FAO supported agricultural statistics programmes and projects in 34 countries of the region. Thirteen countries were assisted in project formulation and implementation.

31. FAO, in collaboration with the World Bank and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is assisting the countries of the region to adopt a comprehensive approach to the development of food and agricultural statistics. Under this initiative, advice was provided to seven countries during a regional workshop on Strengthening National Food and Agricultural Statistics Systems in Africa, organised in Conakry, Guinea, in June 1999.

32. To assist countries identify constraints to improvements in their agricultural statistical programmes, FAO organised a National Agricultural Statistical User/Producer Workshop in Guinea in September 1998 and provided substantial support for the organisation of similar workshops in C�te d'Ivoire and Mauritius. A training Workshop on Supply Utilisation Accounts and Food Balance Sheets was organised in Bamako, Mali, for twenty-three countries from North and West Africa.

j. Food and Agricultural Policy

33. Activities in the area of policy assistance to member countries undertaken during 1998-99 included the following:

• Technical assistance for designing policies, strategies, plans of action and investment programmes for agricultural and rural development, was extended to Benin, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, The Gambia and Liberia.
  
  
• Technical assistance was provided to sub-regional groupings such as UEMOA and ECOWAS in the areas of food security and harmonisation of agricultural policies.
  
  
• Training workshops were organised and an analysis of the determinants of the terms of trade of African agricultural commodities is being conducted.
  
  
• Assistance was provided to Ghana, Madagascar, Niger and Chad to develop their field programme activities with support from UNDP and other donors.
  
  
• Support was provided to post-emergency and rehabilitation works in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Guinea-Bissau and technical assistance was extended to member countries to strengthen their institutional capacities to effectively participate in the rounds of WTO negotiations as well as to enable them carry out effective constraint analysis and resolution tasks under the Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) (Document ARC/00/6 refers).

k. Fisheries

34. The main activities undertaken during the period included:

• Meetings of African aquaculture experts were organised in Accra, Ghana, in September 1999 to review and assess past performance, and thereby provide future guidance for aquaculture development. The meeting on Irrigation/Aquaculture Networking and the Africa Regional Aquaculture Review were held to encourage the integration of the two fields for cost-effective operation;
  
  
• FAO provided assistance to 14 countries in the region in the planning, identification and formulation of viable aquaculture development programmes, networking management and evaluation of the programmes;
  
  
• Technical assistance for fisheries statistical development was extended to Cameroon, Ghana, Madagascar, Togo, Sao Tome, Tunisia and other member countries to provide comparable data that could help in harmonisation of their policies for the management of common resources in international waters;
  
  
• The Organisation continued to provide assistance in the assessment and management of important fishery resources through workshops on shrimps and associated species in Luanda, Angola in March 1999 and ad hoc working groups on demersal species, sardine, mackerel and hose mackerel in Cape Verde, in October/November 1999;
  
  
• FAO is executing a Global Environmental Facility (GEF) project aimed at reducing the negative environmental impact of shrimp and trawl fisheries;
  
  
• FAO assisted member countries to adopt sustainable fishing technology through training. A regional workshop on the subject was organised in Agadir, Morocco in July 1999;
  
  
• The Organisation assisted member countries to improve the quality and safety of fishery products through training in Guinea, Uganda and COMESA countries in June 1999, a national workshop organised in Senegal in April 1998, workshops on fish technology and quality assurance organised in Walvis, Bay, Namibia and in Libreville, Gabon in September 1999;
  
  
• FAO continued to encourage member countries through regional and sub-regional organisations to strengthen their role in the management and conservation of fisheries resources. These include ECOWAS, OAU/STRC, UDEAC, COMESA, LVFO, Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission and Ministerial Conference;
  
  
• FAO provided technical assistance for the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries at conferences, seminars and workshops held across the region.

l. Forestry

35. The following activities were undertaken during the past biennium:

• The Forestry Sector Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA) is currently being implemented in partnership with the African Development Bank, the European Commission and the World Bank, member countries and Sub-regional Organisations;
  
  
• A series of four workshops and associated pilot studies have been on-going since 1998 under the EC-FAO Partnership Programme to strengthen capacities in data collection, management and dissemination;
  
  
• A Regional Workshop on International Co-operation and Resources Mobilisation was held in Dakar, Senegal in April 1998;
  
  
• FAO continued its collaboration with UNEP on Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable Forest Management in Dry-Zone Africa through two Sub-regional Workshops held in Malawi in December 1998 and in Senegal in December 1999;
  
  
• FAO supported the revision and updating of National Forestry Action Plans in Ethiopia, Guinea, and Togo, as well as the decentralisation of the national forestry programme in Senegal;
  
  
• The Organisation, through trust Fund, enhanced national capacities in forestry planning in Cape Verde, Senegal, Cameroon, Zambia, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and Burundi;
  
  
• Through French Trust Funds, FAO organised a series of regional workshops to support NFPs and the creation of a Regional Forestry Documentation Centre based in Accra;
  
  
• Two sub-regional Workshops on Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources were held in Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe during 1998. The main outcome of these workshops was the creation by IPGRI and FAO, of the Sub-Saharan Forestry Genetic Resources Network (SAFORGEN), currently based in Cotonou, Benin;
  
  
• Emphasis has been given to the Special Programme for Food Security to ensure that the contribution of forestry to food security is adequately taken into consideration ;
  
  
• In response to concerns expressed about the future of protected areas and linkages with rural development and food security, an international Technical Consultation on Protected Areas and Sustainable Rural Development was organised by FAO in Harare, Zimbabwe in October 1999;
  
  
• In April 1999, FAO, GTZ and The Gambia organised an international workshop on community forestry, focusing on forests-trees-people linkages in The Gambia.
  
  
• A Forestry Research Network for Sub-Saharan Africa (FORNESSA) was created as a result of a regional consultation attended by experts and resource persons from African countries and NGOs in Accra, 1997;
  
  
• For an effective follow-up to this activity, the Special Programme for Developing Countries (SPDC) of the International Union of Forestry Research Organisations (IUFRO), appointed a Deputy Co-ordinator for Africa (DCA) who has been hosted by FAO within RAFO since May 1998;
  
  
• Case studies on forestry extension were carried out in Mali and Senegal. Additional case studies are being prepared for most West African countries. These will form the basis for a regional workshop on Forestry Extension, to be held during the course of 2000.

m. Investment Programme

36. During the 1998-1999 biennium, 23 investment projects in sub-Saharan Africa, prepared with major Investment Centre input, were approved for financing by co-operating financial institutions. Total investments for these projects amounted to US$704.63 million, including US$432.24 million in external loans, mainly from the World Bank/International Development Association (WB/IDA), African Development Bank/Fund (AfDB/AfDF), IFAD and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). The 15 recipient countries provided the balance.

37. Projects approved included those for the FAO's Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) in eight African countries; rural development in 9 countries; research, extension and training in 3 countries; natural resources management in Ghana; forestry development in Niger, and rural and agro-forestry in Cameroon; livestock in Ethiopia, and marketing in Malawi.

38. During the biennium, the Investment Centre assisted in the formulation of some 90 agricultural investment projects in 31 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Preparatory work was completed for 23 of these projects, out of which eight have already been approved. Total investment for the remaining projects is estimated at US$154.7 m.

39. Collaboration started or continued in support of SPFS activities in 25 countries in the region. Technical assistance is being provided for mobilising additional investment resources and developing regional food security programmes in collaboration with sub-regional groupings (Document ARC/00/6 refers).

40. The Memorandum of Understanding between the World Bank and FAO has heightened co-operation between the Investment Centre and the Bank in Africa in the fields of small-scale irrigation, linked to the SPFS, in 14 countries; food quality standards in 6 countries; the soil fertility initiative in 16 countries; and agricultural statistics in 7 countries (Ghana, Madagascar, Guinea, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia).

41. In co-operation with FAO's Technical Co-operation Programme, investment projects have been formulated to assist resettlement in the Onchocerciasis-freed areas in Benin, Burkina Faso, C�te d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Senegal.

42. Co-operation with the African Development Bank continued during the biennium with work programmes in 23 countries in the region.

43. Collaboration with IFAD in Africa covered the areas of micro-finance development in Cameroon; cassava development in Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria; rural development in Burkina Faso, Chad, Eritrea, Morocco, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Uganda; Onchocerciasis control in Guinea; natural resources management in Lesotho; smallholder support services and marketing in Mozambique and Zambia; agricultural services and food security in C�te d'Ivoire; land conservation in Ghana; private sector development in Guinea Bissau; flood recession in Mauritania; rural diversification and food security in Mauritius; natural resources management in Niger; and small-scale irrigation in Tanzania. Formulation has also been completed for a banana rehabilitation project in Guinea for the Common Fund for Commodities.

IV.   FAO SPECIAL ACTION PROGRAMMES

44. Activities in Africa during the 1998/99 biennium in respect of Emergency Prevention Systems (EMPRES) included the following:

• Emergency investigations of and interventions in outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia and Ethiopia, Mauritania, Senegal and Mali;

• Development and improvement of the capacity of member countries to undertake Laboratory Diagnosis through training of personnel and procurement of reagents. Capacity for diagnostics on African Swine Fever (ASF) was developed in every country in the West African sub-region; two regional Reference and Training Laboratories for ASF were established and equipped in Cot� d’Ivoire and Senegal and laboratories were equipped for ASF diagnosis in Benin, Togo and Nigeria;

• Prevention and Control activities on a continuous basis in regard to Contagious Bovine Pleuro-pneumonia (CBPP) in Botswana, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Zambia

• Mapping out of strategies to eradicate the remaining foci of Rinderpest in Africa, through GREP.

• Supporting the development of Newcastle Disease Vaccine V4 and thermostable vaccines, at vaccine production centres as well as research on development of effective vaccines against CBPP, New Castle Disease, Rinderpest and PPR. Through the PANVAC, co-ordination and improvement of quality control of vaccines produced are being carried out;

• Emergency assistance, investigations, control and mapping out strategies for sustained control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) have been carried out in Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda, The Gambia, Senegal, Mali and Mauritania;

• Emergency assistance to eradicate, control and contain the ASF Epidemic in Cote d’Ivoire, and several other countries infected with the disease. The capacities of other member countries for emergency prevention, especially those in the West African Sub-region have been strengthened in order to build the early warning capability against trans-boundary diseases, particularly ASF. Educational materials, manuals and audio-visual aids for sensitising the general public on recognition of the diseases have been produced and disseminated;

• Enhancement of the Early Warning Capacity in member countries against the major epidemic diseases through provision of computer equipment with mapping units. Officers involved in data management have already been trained and National officers in charge of epidemiology units have been provided with the requisite software and their activities co-ordinated;

• The field programme for developing preventive Desert Locust control, started in 1997 in countries bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, is continuing and is scheduled to end in 2000. A similar programme has been formulated for North and West Africa. Under this programme, research activities have commenced in collaboration with some research institutions.

45. The Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS), endorsed by the World Food Summit, has provided the focus for most FAO assistance to many of the Low-income food-deficit countries in the region. To date, SPFS is fully operational in 30 countries and under formulation in 14 others in Africa. A comprehensive report on World Food Summit Follow-up: Special Programme for Food Security is presented as Working Document ARC/00/5.

46. With regard to the Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information Mapping System (FIVIMS), one of the major programme initiatives from the World Food Summit, initial activities commenced in some eight countries in 1999 and many more are planned for the year 2000. By helping to map out food insecurity and vulnerability, the system contributes to the design and implementation of appropriate policies and programmes to combat poverty and food insecurity.

47. TCDC Activities supported by FAO in Africa have been successfully implemented by RAF, since the Twentieth FAO Regional Conference for Africa through TCDC programmes with the majority of African countries that have signed the agreements under the Partnership Programmes. In addition, RAF has followed up with the implementation of the trilateral co-operation among African countries, other developing countries and FAO, in accordance with the provisions of the South-South Co-operation initiative. Countries involved so far include India, China, Cuba and Vietnam.

a. The Problem

48. Since the 1960’s the situation of food and agriculture in Africa has continued to deteriorate, as exemplified by the declining per capita food supply. This has resulted in a high incidence of malnutrition and deplorable socio-economic conditions for large segments of the population which has necessitated increased food imports and aid, to bridge the gap between food production and population growth, and its attendant adverse effects.

49. The major factors that account for this poor performance of African agriculture include structural and institutional bottlenecks, lack of appropriate agricultural policies, inadequate agricultural incentives, limited adoption of technologies and rapid degradation of the natural resource base. Consequently, the contribution of agriculture to economic growth and development has declined significantly and there has been no perceptible structural transformation of African economies to reverse the situation.

50. To enhance food security and enable agriculture play its pivotal role as the engine of growth in most African economies, and at the same time preserve and improve the natural resource base, will require political will and strong commitment, on the part of African member states to take firm action to implement the necessary policy and institutional reforms and increase public resource allocation to the sector.

b. Regional Priorities

51. Accordingly, the priorities of the region will continue to be the enhancement of the contribution of agriculture to economic growth and development and the preservation of the natural resource base, leading to improvement in the food security situation of the African people.

• The renewed commitment made by member states during the World Food Summit to wage a multi-faceted attack on poverty, hunger and malnutrition, and in particular, to allocate at least 25% of their human and financial resources to agriculture and rural development, needs to be backed by sustained appropriate action. This would be in line with the recommendations of the Regional Workshop on the Nature and Extent of Public Assistance to Agriculture in Africa, organised by the Regional Office in 1998.

• The workshop stressed the need for African Governments to:

• develop water resources and expand the area of cultivated land under irrigation;
• develop agricultural and other rural infrastructure and institutions;
• enhance the development of rural human resources through capacity building for non-governmental organisations, farmers’ associations and other agriculture-related professional associations and increase the empowerment of rural women and other disadvantaged groups;
• promote the sustainable use and integrated management of land resources, forest cover and wildlife, marine and fresh water resources;
• improve Government and private sector food quality control systems in order to facilitate access to international food trade and to meet Uruguay Round and Codex requirements;
• accelerate regional cooperation and the integration of the Africa region into the world economy through enhanced investment flows and trade; and
• establish the possibility of integrating the issue of HIV/AIDS and agriculture in the regional programme and relevant projects. This follows the signing of a co-operation framework between FAO and UNAIDS.

c. Synthesis and Activities

52. Working as a multi-disciplinary team, in collaboration with national officials, development partners, the private sector, non-governmental organisations, farmers’ associations, and other related agriculture-based professional associations, Officers of the Regional and Sub-regional Offices, in consultation with Headquarters Divisions, will quantify sectoral objectives and determine appropriate technical, institutional and policy interventions. At the request of member countries, and in consultation with other partners, they will contribute to the preparation of development programmes/projects and investment proposals.

The following are the specific activities proposed for the 2000 – 2001 biennium:

53. Policy assistance will continue to be provided to ensure that the global economic environment and the macro economic framework of each member state are taken into account in the activities proposed by the Regional Office to ensure the achievement of the stated regional priorities. FAO will continue to assist member countries to ensure consistency and coherence between macro economic and sectoral policies.

54. Member states will continue to be assisted to prepare and implement appropriate food security strategies and programmes, in co-operation with relevant sub-regional economic groupings and institutions, develop information systems for the prevention and management of food crises and formulate policies for their enhanced integration into the world economy.

55. With emphasis on FAO’s priority programme for food production in support of food security, issues related to land degradation and its negative impact on food production will be addressed and land improvement for enhanced productivity, will also be vigorously pursued.

56. Promotion of technologies and training in the management of small-scale water resources, improvement in the performance of irrigation systems, as well as promotion of appropriate water policy will be actively pursued as key inputs for increased food production. The participation of rural communities in animal production, particularly of short cycle species, will be promoted.

57. For plant production and protection activities, sustainable field crop production and related cropping systems, intensive grassland and folder production, integrated pest management (IPM), focusing on farmers’ field schools training methodology, will be promoted.

58. Income-generating activities are important contributors to food security in rural areas. Rural-based, small-scale agro-processing industries, which generate income and alleviate women’s burdens, will be promoted.

59. The Organisation will assist member states to adopt participatory management of natural forests and development of non-wood products, including wildlife resources, in order to contribute to food security in Africa. Support will continue in the follow-up to UNCED in forestry, especially with regard to the implementation of IPF recommendations.

60. The Forestry Sector Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA), to be finalised during the biennium, will make an in-depth assessment of the overall status of African Forestry as well as map out its future course for sustainable development.

61. With respect to the Fisheries sector, action will be taken to raise current levels of consumption. The main focus will be to promote greater participation of the African member states in the fishing industry in the region through the following:-

• improving the management and conservation of fisheries resources, especially capture fisheries, through the strengthening of regional fisheries management institutions and arrangements and the establishment of effective monitoring, control and surveillance systems;
  
  
• developing environmentally-sound aquaculture;
  
  
• reduction of post-harvest losses through improvement of fish handling practices and processing techniques; and
  
  
• promotion of intra-regional fish trade.

62. The Regional and Sub-regional Offices will assist member countries in Africa to establish better monitoring and surveillance systems to control food and nutritional vulnerability and ensure better planning and food aid targeting.

VI.   CONCLUSION

63. The quest for food security will continue to be the major thrust of the FAO’s work in the Africa region for decades to come. In this vein, the focus of the next biennium, at the policy level, will be on assisting FAO Member States to: (i) reassess their macro-economic, sectoral, sub-sectoral and commodity-specific economic policies and initiate appropriate reforms in order to create conducive conditions for setting the food and agricultural sector on an accelerated, broad-based and sustainable path for growth; (ii) reconsider their current public assistance policies towards the food and agricultural sector in terms of policy and institutional reforms and public resource allocation; (iii) participate actively in the world trade in order to promote the integration of the region in the world economy; and (iv) develop gender disaggregated agricultural statistics for effective programming and planning.

64. At the field programme level, the assistance to Member States will concentrate on helping them to: (i) continue their efforts in areas of water resource development and use, animal health and production, and crop production and protection; (ii) address issues related to degradation and improvement of land and other natural resources; (iii) promote rural-based small-scale agro-processing industries; (iv) strengthen both formal and informal rural credit and financial markets; (v) mobilise support from development partners for the implementation of national forestry programmes in the region; (vi) promote their greater participation in the fishing industry and develop environmentally-sound aquaculture; and (vii) establish better monitoring and surveillance systems to control food and nutritional vulnerability, ensure better planning and food aid targeting, adopt food-based programme approach in order to address overall malnutrition and micro-nutrients; and develop information systems for the prevention and management of food crises.