United Nations World Food Programme (Rome)
9 November 2009
press release
I applaud the declaration by the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation underlining the important role that investment in food security, agriculture and infrastructure plays in meeting the food needs of Africa’s people.
WFP has worked for decades to help people in China and Africa access the food they need to live healthy, productive lives. We have helped farmers feed their families, while supporting them as they improve their land, dig wells, and build roads and clinics and schools. In the midst of humanitarian emergencies, WFP has also rebuilt roads, ports and airstrips to reduce the cost of delivering humanitarian aid.
By strengthening infrastructure, WFP has helped to cut the cost of transporting people and goods over the long term. For example, in southern Sudan, the repair of 2,500 km of roads by WFP has led to a significant cut in local food costs. In the process, lives have been improved and saved.
China's own success in addressing malnutrition and bolstering food security stands as an example to the world that hunger can be beaten in a generation, especially when small farmers are given access to credit and markets. By deploying its resources strategically, WFP is looking to replicate this success by supporting small farmers in regions like sub-Saharan Africa, where – last year -- it purchased US$427 million worth of food from farmers in 15 countries
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