Norway Government Donates $7.7 million To FAO In South Sudan

12 November 2015 [Gurtong]- The Norwegian government and UN FAO during the signing ceremony readies contribution of $ 7.7 million to enhance food security in South Sudan.

“Norway’s contribution has arrived at the right moment”, said Abdoul Karim Bah, Deputy FAO Representative in South Sudan.

“With these funds, FAO will procure critical livelihood inputs well in time for the 2016 campaign, which ultimately means that 80 000 households will be able to plant crops and vegetables, fish in the rivers and protect livestock from devastating diseases” Karim said.

Ms. Tone Tinnes, Norway Ambassador said the Norwegian’s funding will allow FAO to continue providing emergency livelihood kits to families in hard-to-reach areas of the conflict-affected States.

“The support will target some 80 000 vulnerable households with crop seeds, fishing tools, farming tools and vegetable seeds, as well as livestock veterinary health assistance” said Tinnes.

In 2015, with Norway’s support, FAO has distributed 70 000 livelihood kits (crop, fishing or vegetable) to families in remote or difficult to access areas of South Sudan.

In 2015 FAO provided more than 470, 000 crop, vegetable and fishing kits, directly supporting a total of 364 000 households (2.2 million people) to improve their food security.

The UN-FAO said it provides a further previously unplanned 140 000 fishing and vegetable kits to conflict affected population in Unity, Jonglei and Upper Nile States.

For 2016, FAO has developed a two-pronged approach to help improve food security and nutrition in South Sudan. In severely conflict-affected areas, where food insecurity and malnutrition are particularly high, FAO will be providing emergency livelihood kits to support rapid food production.

In less-affected States and Counties, vulnerable families and communities will be receiving support to boost food production through activities such as input trade fairs and seed multiplication, which help strengthen local economies in the medium and longer terms, and increase beneficiaries’ resilience.

FAO is appealing for more than $43 million to provide emergency livelihood support to more than 3.2 million people. Moreover, more than 11 million livestock will be vaccinated and treated against major diseases.