AFRICA FOOD SECURITY INITIATIVE

OIC Member States are to request the IOFS to implement an Africa Food Security Initiative (AFSI), as a means of addressing the pressing challenges the continent faces in relation to food security and agricultural development.

Such a move is to be the consolidation of the “IOFS African commitment” that witnessed its kickoff with the celebration of 2022 as “IOFS Year of Africa”, which was marked with the convening of diverse activities in different OIC Member States, including Niger, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Türkiye.

• The African commitment comes against the backdrop of various reports issued by relevant UN Agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP), particularly the Hunger Hotspots Report 2021, conveyed the drastic situation of food insecurity in 11 OIC Member States in Africa, namely Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Mozambique, Lebanon and Yemen, bringing the total amount of affected people to around 66 million.
• In this context, the AFSI is to be implemented through different programs to ensure that food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa would receive proper attention so that people across the region could have access to food.