29 April 2021, Khartoum – Rome The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) have formalized their partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The MoU was signed by FAO Director-General Dr QU Dongyu and BADEA Director General Mr Sidi Ould Tah in a virtual ceremony on the margins of the ‘High-Level Dialogue on Feeding Africa: Leadership to Scale up Successful Innovations’ Event, co-hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said he was pleased to sign the MoU with the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, adding that the agreement was “timely” because of the need to “build back better after the COVID-19 pandemic.”
He continued: “Africa is a top priority for FAO and we are working with Africa and BADEA for the modernisation of agriculture. We offer support to transform agri-food systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable for better production, better nutrition, better environment and better life, leaving no one behind.”
FAO Director-General QU concluded by underlining that he “looked forward to working together, with BADEA hand in hand”.
For his part, BADEA Director General Mr Sidi Ould Tah highlighted that the signing of the MoU with FAO clearly shows BADEA’s commitment to leverage on partnership synergy to meet beneficiaries’ national priorities, while accounting for their commitments to the Global Development Agenda 2030 and the Agenda 2063 of the African Union.
A long-standing partnership
FAO and BADEA began working together in 1975 and have previously collaborated on projects in several African countries. This includes recent assessment studies to prepare for large investments in Mali’s cotton value chain and in a pilot project in Niger for integrated support to pastoralism. The new MoU will scale-up the partnership even further.
BADEA is a multilateral development bank owned by 18 Arab countries, members of the League of Arab States. It works to promote economic development in Africa and foster cooperation between the beneficiary countries and the Arab World through investment and trade.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger, working to ensure that people have access to high-quality diets and achieve food security for all. FAO’s goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 194 Member Nations, one Member Organization, and two Associate Members, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.
Building on FAO and BADEA’s common interest in promoting agricultural development and food security, both parties have agreed, through this MoU, to further intensify their collaboration in order to strengthen the effectiveness, impact and sustainability of their development work. The signed memorandum covers a number of areas of future collaboration, including agricultural infrastructure development, private sector engagement in agriculture, market information, agricultural value-chains development, skills development for women and youth, scaling up production and productivity for pastoralists as well as boosting Climate-Smart Agriculture.