USAID, Irish Aid announce new funding to combat food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Ireland’s international development programme, Irish Aid, have announced funding to build more sustainable food systems to help fight global hunger and prevent the next food crisis in sub-Saharan Africa.

This was disclosed in a statement on Friday April 14, 2023.

According to the statement, the funding builds on the long-standing partnership between the United States and Ireland to combat global hunger and food insecurity.

“In a new co-partnership that invests over $75 million in sub-Saharan Africa, USAID will work with Congress to provide $38.6 million and Irish Aid will contribute at least $37 million to support the transformation of food systems to become more climate resilient, provide more nutritious food to the population, create a green energy transition from agricultural waste, and support sustainable economic growth, including increased income for farmers, including female farmers,” the statement reads.

It added that as part of the investment, USAID and Ireland will launch an Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) Innovation Sprint and work with a group of private-sector businesses to help them diversify and expand their agricultural production with technical assistance.

“In Malawi, for example, we are partnering with Pyxus Agriculture and Malawi Mangoes Ltd; investments in these efforts are expected to leverage more than $200 million in private-sector funding.

“Our partnership in sub-Saharan Africa builds upon long-standing cooperation in nutrition and food security.

“Last year, for example, Administrator Samantha Power led a call to action and USAID contributed $200 million to initiate a pledging effort for donors to respond to the global food crisis, to which Ireland contributed €50 million ($54 million). USAID’s $200 million investment enabled an additional 2.5 million children to be treated for severe wasting in 13 countries.

“Ireland’s $54 million investment will help reach up to 500,000 additional children with services for the early detection, prevention, and treatment of wasting,” the statement added.

Ireland’s own history with famine has driven the country’s leadership to combat global hunger and child wasting today.

The Irish commitment to prevent others from suffering famine has resulted in the country’s outsized impact in the spaces of nutrition, food security, and increasingly gender responsive climate action and food systems transformation.

USAID and Irish Aid will continue to partner against food insecurity. These commitments represent Ireland’s and the United States’ shared values, partnership, leadership, and commitment to people facing severe malnutrition and threat of famine.