One of the major resolutions from the Beating Famine conference has been to propose a USD 50 million fund for the implementation and promotion of low cost sustainable agriculture that can combat drought and famine in high risk countries such as those in sub-Saharan Africa.
“This re-greening will have multiple benefits; increased crop yields and livestock, increased resiliency to environmental shocks and climate change, and increased bio-diversity,” said Tony Rinaudo, World Vision’s research and development specialist on climate and natural resources.
While majority of the funds will be used to implement activities that contribute to the expansion of low cost, sustainable agriculture, the setup cost as well as promotion of the brand are expected to cost USD 5 million respectively. The remaining $10 million will be spent on pilot programs that generate credible data.
Dennis Garrity, UN Dry lands Ambassador and senior fellow at the ICRAF said: “Governments and NGOs throughout the East African region are now partnering to implement national scaling-up programmes to create an evergreen agriculture based on smallholder adoption of trees for enhanced soil fertility, and fodder, fruit and fuel wood production.”
