Mr. Said Hussain lid delivered a speech at a High-level Food Security and Nutrition Conference at the AU Headquarters

Mr. Said Hussain lid delivered a speech at a High-level Food Security and Nutrition Conference at the AU Headquarters
11 October 2022

On October 10, 2022 Mr. Said Hussain lid, Special Envoy of IOFS in Africa, delivered a speech at a High-level Food Security and Nutrition Conference under the theme “Mobilizing Support for Food and Nutrition Security”, at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The high-level Food Security and Nutrition Conference is organized to advocate for scaling-up efforts to meet the humanitarian imperative across the continent while also investing in addressing the longer term needs as outlined in the global and regional commitments.

Mr. Said Hussain lid started his speech by conveying the warm regards from the Director-General of IOFS H.E. Yerlan Baidaulet, and introduced the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS), as a specialized institution of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. He emphasized that the IOFS has a mandate to ensure sustainable food security within OIC geography through socio-economic development and the systematic promotion of targeted programs related to agriculture, science and technology, humanitarian aid, food trade and investment among OIC Member States.

The respected speaker also highlighted that IOFS attaches great importance to the African continent, where nearly one half of its member countries are located in Africa. IOFS commitment to Africa is exhibited by its decision to recognize the year 2022 as THE YEAR OF AFRICA where a range of programs is dedicated towards this mission.

The decision of the 8th IOFS Executive Board Meeting held virtually on 09 December 2021 to adopt 2022 as the “IOFS Year of Africa” was aimed to ensure that the Organization would focus its main attention to the continent by developing and implementing relevant projects with the support of Member States and other stakeholders, including international organizations.

This decision was timely and coincided with the action of the African Union to mark Africa Day in 2022 under the theme “Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on African Continent”.

He mentioned some of the activities to mark the Year of Africa 2022 Mission, including:

Creation of Cassava Center of Excellency: a Programme that is aimed at the development of Strategic Commodities and the initiation of Creation of Centers of Excellence (CoE) within the OIC for development of certain commodities, including Wheat, Rice and Cassava with the collaboration of ISRA in Senegal and with Nigerian National Root Crops Research Institution (NRCRI) from Sub Saharan Group II and representatives of research Institutions, local authorities, and experts of the sector from Benin, Togo, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal, Uganda, and Nigeria.

Sheep Farming Fund investment project: it will provide sustainable intra-OIC supplies of top-quality meat with the planned capacity of 40 thousand tons per year. Investment needs for one case project are preliminary estimated at USD 100 million. Upon successful implementation, this fund is to be replicated in other OIC countries, such as Somalia, Sudan, etc.

OIC Food Security Reserve System (FSRs): it is soon expected to be implemented, as it has been on the OIC agenda since 1981. The main purpose of the FSRs is to facilitate access to food in the Member States by forming regional food reserves to guarantee supplies in times of food shortage and by monitoring and forecasting the situation. The IOFS Secretariat, following a research study, proposes the establishment of 5 regional Food Reserves.

The Grain Fund: which is geared towards increasing intra-OIC economic cooperation particularly in the field of agricultural development and food security with emphasis on funding and grain supply.

Mr. Said Hussain lid concluded by stressing that the IOFS also strongly supports African leaders in raising the profile of food security systems reforms on the Continental agenda and pledges its readiness to be part of the continental drive to achieve all objectives.