Cairo, Egypt - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Egyptian Food Bank (EFB) announced today the renewal of their cooperation protocol and signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen and deepen their long-standing partnership in the areas of rural and agricultural development, food loss and waste, social protection, food security, and poverty reduction. The signing ceremony was in conjunction with the Farmer’s Day celebration, which falls on September 9 of each year.

Community awareness on food waste and exchange of information on agricultural development and food security

The cooperation protocol aims to expand support to small producers in Egypt, enhancing farmers' knowledge and equipping them with modern agricultural methods while also educating the community about the significant role of farmers in the food chain and in achieving food security. It also seeks to raise awareness about the importance of tackling food waste and loss and promoting less wasteful consumption patterns as well as generating evidence on the impact of social protection programmes on food security, nutrition and poverty.

The MoU was signed by Mr Nasr El-Din Hag Elamin, FAO representative in Egypt, and Mr Mohsen Sarhan, the CEO of EFB, in the presence of partners and farmers affiliated to the Egyptian Food Bank, and representatives of the FAO. The protocol is part of the ongoing cooperation between FAO and EFB including highly successful annual campaigns addressing food waste during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Both parties are committed to further developing agricultural support methods to improve agricultural production and empower small producers in the agrifood system through joint technical workshops and a number of projects that benefit smallholder farmers.

The protocol also encompasses plans to joint efforts in the implementation of "Zero hunger village project in the New Valley Governorate (Wadi Gideed). This will be a pilot to achieve the first ever fully food secure village in Egypt.

Moreover, the MoU includes the exchange of information and experiences in the fields of rural agricultural development, social protection, food security and curbing poverty.

“We are so pleased with the signing of the cooperation protocol with EFB. It’s an organization that follows scientific methods and approaches in executing its activities for the benefit of beneficiaries, including farmers. These principles align with the working methods of the FAO,” said Mr Nasr El-Din Hag Elamin, representative of FAO in Egypt.

“There is an opportunity for further collaboration between FAO and EFB especially to pilot the Zero Hunger Village initiative in the Farafra region. This collaboration aims to promote sustainable rural and agricultural development through the empowerment of small producers, delivery of impactful social protection programmes and promotion of more healthy and nutritious diets.” Nasredin further explained that within this initiative, EFB will use quantitative and qualitative methods in measuring poverty to implement activities that are appropriate to the community’s development, food security and safety to achieve zero hunger in this region.

“The general strategy of EFB encompasses several pillars, including the empowerment pillar. Through this collaboration with FAO, we are able to expand our work on empowering small-scale farmers. With FAO developed tools and approaches, we can help farmers adopt the latest production techniques and improve agricultural productivity. This benefits these farmers by improving their livelihoods while supporting our activities in providing food to those in need by increasing local yields,” said Mohsen Sarhan, CEO of EFB. “The partnering with FAO, being a global institution, helps us to elevate our impact in supporting rural communities and small farmers and increasing societal awareness regarding the issue of food waste”.

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