FAO: Peace is the sustainable solution to food insecurity

The Africa regional representative for the Food and Agriculture Organization has told delegates at a meeting in Nigeria that the 'sustainable solution' to food insecurity is 'peace'.

Abebe Haile-Gabriel was in the capital, Abuja, to discuss food security and the road to achieving the goal of zero hunger with local stakeholders.

Famine threat in Horn of Africa

The talks come just days after the United Nations warned that hundreds of thousands of people in Somalia are facing starvation.

‘The situation in Somalia is dire. There has been drought for more than four years in a row and this has devastating impact on the livelihood of the people there,’ he said.

A severe drought in the Horn of Africa has destroyed crops and killed livestock on which the survival of people in the region depend.

Food security requires peace

Haile-Gabriel highlighted the fact that achieving food security required more than just assistance to farmers.

‘The FAO has been in collaboration with some donor agencies, and procured fertilizer which is has made available to farmers in the affected region,’ he said, ‘But, this is not a sustainable solution. The sustainable solution is to find peace so that normal life can continue.’

Despite efforts to move past decades of drought and conflict, it is the third time in 10 years that Somalia has been threatened with a devastating famine.

Speaking recently at the United Nations General Assembly, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called on the country’s partners to do everything possible to help avert the famine, which also threatens the wider Horn of Africa region.