In a move to avoid a hunger crisis in the wake of COVID-19, an initiative to help support 250 000 smallholder farmers across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique has been launched.
The Action Africa: Thriving Farms, Thriving Future project will focus on food production and improved food security through advocacy and partnerships, farmer connectivity, digital solutions and operational support, including high-quality fertiliser.
It aims to triple maize production and make sure food is available to and affordable for the most vulnerable; support SMEs; keep food markets open and safe; transfer knowledge to farmers; and digitalise traceability, where possible.
The project is a collaboration between Norway-based fertiliser company Yara, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), the Africa Food Forum, Generation Africa and the Farm to Market Alliance, with the support of various other agricultural organisations.
According to David Beasley, executive director of the WFP, ‘this initiative provides a good model for how the private sector and individual companies can step up, in partnership with African institutions, governments and organisations […] to help sustain production and food-supply chains, and safeguard the people most at risk during the pandemic’.
