Nouvelles

Ethiopian Institutions, the European Commission and FAO to collaborate on Food Security Information Systems

The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the European Commission have signed an important agreement to strengthen food security information systems in the country. Over a period of two years, the European Commission delegation in Addis Ababa will provide $2.3 million to carry out activities in collaboration with the Central Statistical Authority and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at the federal and regional levels, and with the Disaster Planning and Preparedness Authority.

The project, jointly designed by the Government of Ethiopia, the European Commission and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will receive specialized technical assistance from FAO. Other main partners will include the World Food Programme and the European Space Agency's Global Monitoring for Food Security Initiative.

The EC-FAO Food Security Information for Action Programme's Role

The EC-FAO Food Security Information for Action Programme is providing financial and technical support for the project's Chief Technical Advisor. Many of the project's activities complement other EC-FAO Programme activities in Ethiopia – in particular those regarding the installation of the GIEWS Workstation.

Project Activities
Because agriculture is so important in Ethiopia, various systems have long been in place to collect and analyze information on food production, animal husbandry, staple food prices and food consumption. Furthermore, food production and agricultural income are the main determinants of food security at the household level. Thus, the government and its partners aim at increasing the effectiveness of information collection and analysis of information systems in this strategic area.

The project will focus on the following activities:

- Improving the accuracy and timeliness of agricultural production statistics.

- Using better data for improved analysis of food security.

Project Purpose

The purpose of this project is also to provide more precise information and analysis to help answer important questions such as:

- What is the best way to support production systems in various areas of the country?

- How can we help people get better prices for their agricultural surplus, without hurting consumers?

- What is the best way to integrate production and food consumption information into disaster preparedness and mitigation?