Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP)
Garry Smith, Principal Adviser, explains how during the 2009 G8 Summit in L’Aquila, world leaders stepped up their fight against hunger and poverty by committing USD 22 billion over three years for sustainable agriculture development and food security. One by-product of that G8 Summit was the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), a financial pass-through mechanism set up in 2010 to channel part of those pledges. In June 2011, the Governments of Cambodia, Liberia, Nepal and Tajikistan got a boost in their efforts to reduce the number of people living in hunger and poverty when they were awarded GAFSP grants totalling USD 160 milion. These countries joined the ranks of Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Haiti, Mongolia, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Togo, which received funding in 2010 worth USD 321 million. FAO’s Investment Centre has worked closely with many countries, including a number of the grantees, to develop country investment plans and subsequent applications for GAFSP funding.
Related Links
GAFSP fact sheet: http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/rust/docs/GAFSP_FactSheet_.pdf
GAFSP website: http://www.gafspfund.org/gafsp/