TANZANIA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has received US$ 6 million from the Republic of Korea contribution to boost smallholder farming and enhance food and nutrition security among refugees and hosting communities in Kigoma, Tanzania for the next four years.
More than 200,000 refugees from Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, mostly women and children have been living in the Kigoma region of Tanzania.
The funding, which has been provided through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) comes at a critical time and will help WFP improve refugees’ food security.
It will also help WFP to support 20,000 smallholder farmers and their families, as well as to build institutional, technical, financial and agricultural capacities of community-based organizations in the area.
“I have no doubt that the project will strengthen smallholder farmers’ agriculture value chain, and improve gender equality and peace in refugee hosting districts in Kigoma region.
“The project will fully include KOICA’s values in partnership with WFP in Tanzania,” says Mr. Kyucheol Eo, KOICA’s Country Director in Tanzania.
Known as ‘The Kilimo Tija Kigoma’ (KITIKI) project, KOICA and WFP are supporting the initiative to enhance peaceful co-existence among refugees and host communities by promoting community engagement and dialogue.
Under the initiative, Tanzanian smallholder farmers, many of whom are women, will receive training on good agricultural practices, post-harvest handling and accessing markets. Additionally, WFP will link farmers with refugee communities to provide a ready market for their produce.
“WFP is grateful for the generous support from the government and the people of the Republic of Korea, through this partnership with KOICA.
“We are not only empowering smallholder farmers, but also contributing towards the triple nexus of humanitarian assistance, development and peacebuilding in Kigoma region,” says Sarah Gordon-Gibson, WFP’s Country Director in Tanzania.
In other related news, The Novo Nordisk Foundation, an independent Danish foundation with corporate interests, has issued a US$4.1 million grand to the United Nations WFP, to support its homegrown school feeding and smallholder farmer in Rwanda and Uganda.
WFP’s homegrown school feeding programme purchases food from local farmers, boosting local economies while providing schoolchildren with a much-needed healthy meal.
The grant aims to build the resilience and functionality of food systems in the most food-insecure regions of both countries, resulting in improved health, nutrition, food security and incomes for marginalized and vulnerable smallholder farming communities.
Under the partnership, set to run over an 18-month period, WFP will work with smallholder farmers to improve food systems by reducing dependency on imported fertilizers, eliminating post-harvest losses, strengthening market linkages, and increasing agricultural production.
The grant will support 23,195 smallholder farmers in Rwanda and 15,000 in Uganda, with production from these farmers going directly to WFP’s school feeding programme, with 107,000 children in Rwanda and 165,000 children in Uganda benefiting from daily locally grown nutritious meals.
For all the latest food industry news from Africa and the World, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
