FAO Mozambique presents 2015 results

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 30 and 31 March held a programming meeting with staff and partners in Maputo. The meeting aimed, amongst others, to share the new Country Programming Framework (CPF) of the Organization as well as present the results of the activities run in 2015 and discuss technical issues relevant to the actual programme.

Speaking at the opening of the event, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MASA), Ilídio Miguel, noted "with satisfaction that FAO's programme is aligned with the priorities of the government. Although agriculture constitutes a major priority in the country, climate change has caused devastating effects, affecting especially family farming, which is a great challenge".

To cope with challenges such as climate change is one of the points of FAO's new programme for Mozambique, which is not only aligned with the government's priorities but also with the five strategic objectives defined by the Organization with its member states at global level. The CPF is also in line with the new United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF 2017-2020) for Mozambique, recently signed by the government and the UN agencies present in the country.

In her intervention, the UN Resident Coordinator in Mozambique, Márcia Castro, recalled that "the country reached some targets of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and in September that same year, a new development agenda has been approved for the commitment of the United Nations to cope with the development challenges, aiming at the inclusion of the most vulnerable".

Representatives of the government and the UN as well as development and cooperation partners and civil society organizations from the agriculture, food security and rural development sectors attended the meeting.

Speaking to FAO staff, the Country Representative, Castro Camarada, said that "Mozambique still has many challenges to cope with regarding hunger and malnutrition and FAO will keep its support to the country, namely in the jointly identified priorities of the CPF 2016-2020".

Issues such as FAO's strategies for the reduction of chronic malnutrition, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the transparent management of natural resources and the environment were also approached throughout the meeting.