EU trekt voor nog eens 67 miljoen uit aan hulp aan Mozambique (en)

European Commission

Press release

Brussels, 29 November 2012

New EU support for Mozambique to fight hunger and chronic malnutrition

The European Commission gives new €67.3 million support to Mozambique's efforts to reduce hunger and chronic malnutrition in the country and accelerate progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The new programme will help improve agricultural and fisheries production and increase access to food for vulnerable groups, in particular women and children.

EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said: "Food security lies at the heart of development. Hungry people lack the energy to take care of their families, work or go to school. Malnutrition has disastrous and irreversible effects on the physical and mental development of children, which hampers their potential. With today's funding we show that we stand side by side with the people of Mozambique in fighting hunger and poverty. Projects like this bring us one step closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals together by 2015 and to our ultimate goal of a hunger-free world."

This new EU funding addresses the key pillars underpinning food security - availability of food, access to food and nutritional quality. This includes improving production of smallholder farmers and fishermen, for example by providing greater access to inputs such as seeds, fertiliser or tools. Other measures aim at reducing post-harvest losses, promoting home gardens for women and vaccinating chickens (to reduce the alarming mortality rate). The project will also improve links with markets or buyers by investing in lacking small-scale infrastructure (e.g. storage), rural roads, information systems and electrification of markets, as well as supporting farmers' organizations. Nutrition education will also be part of all activities: changing people's behaviour is a key element in reducing malnutrition in Mozambique. Specific support will also be provided to the national fortification programme for vegetable oil, sugar and wheat, maize and cassava flours.

The new funding is part of the so-called "MDG initiative" of the European Commission that aims to foster progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); it is funded by a total of €1 billion. The focus lies on MDGs which risk not being attained by the deadline of 2015 and therefore need additional efforts: reducing hunger, maternal and infant mortality and improving access to water and sanitation. Mozambique is the largest beneficiary of the MDG initiative. The implementation of the programme in the country is led by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) on behalf of the government of Mozambique. The Food Security Secretariat (SETSAN) within the Ministry of Agriculture of Mozambique will closely monitor the programme and regularly report on its performance.

For further information

Website of the European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs:

http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/piebalgs/index_en.htm

Website of EuropeAid Development and Cooperation DG:

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/index_en.htm