Angola, Brazil and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have entered into a South-South cooperation agreement to strengthen food security in the Southern African country.
The parties will work to boost agricultural and veterinary research in Angola, where researchers will receive technical assistance and short-term training from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA).
The two-year project, which will be facilitated by FAO, will be co-funded by Angola and Brazil, with Angola providing $2.2m financial costs, while Brazil will contribute $875,000 through the work of EMBRAPA experts.
FAO technical cooperation assistant director-general Laurent Thomas said, "The availability of highly qualified researchers and innovators who understand the complexity of development challenges is key to making great strides in agriculture and food security in Angola.
"Brazil has much to offer in terms of proven technical know-how and this agreement is an important milestone in South-South Cooperation between the two countries."
Permanent Representative of Angola to FAO Florêncio Mariano da Conceição e Almeida said that the project would contribute to national efforts on food security and poverty reduction which have already enabled Angola to meet the Millennium Development Goal target of halving its proportion of hungry people ahead of the 2015 deadline.
Commenced in 1996, the South-South Cooperation is an initiative by FAO to facilitate cooperation among developing countries of the global South to improve food security.
