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FAO / EU FOOD FACILITY PROJECTS
STORY: FAO/ EU FOOD FACILITY PROJECTS
TRT: 3.25
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/FRENCH/ NATS
DATELINE: RECENT, BATTICALOA AND TRICOMALEE, SRI LANKA/ ZAMBIA/ GUATEMALA/ NIGER
RECENT, BATTICALOA AND TRICOMALEE, SRI LANKA
1.Wide shot, women watering
2.Tilt up, woman picking up jug of water
3.Med shot, women picking beans
4.Tilt up, woman picking up basket of beans
5.SOUNDBITE (English) Giuseppe Bronzoni Chief Technical Advisor, FAO Sri Lanka:
“The difference between this project and other food security projects financed by FAO – is that this project has a relevant component of rural engineering. It is not just the delivery of agricultural inputs, fertilizer and seed but also the rehabilitation of permanent agricultural and rural infrastructure, which are tanks, channels, drain channels, irrigation channels and the rehabilitation of abandoned land.”
RECENT, ZAMBIA
6.Wide shot, farmers in the field for field training
7.Med shot, farmers in the field for field training
8.Pan right, farmers listening
9.Zoom in, farmers in field with corn stalks
10.Close up, farmer in field with corn stalks
11.Various shots, farmers chopping corn
12.SOUNDBITE (English) Derek Fee, Head of Delegation of the EU to the Republic of Zambia:
“This amazing increase of food prices that happened during the period in 2007 and 2008 has led to a lot of problems in all developing countries because most developing countries are under pressure for food supplies anyway.”
RECENT, GUATEMALA
13.Tilt up, mountains
14.Pan left, workers in fields
15.Close up, workers in fields
16.Close up, sac of fertilizer
17.Med shot, farmer putting fertilizer around tree
18.Wide shot, mothers and children in field
19.Pan right, market
20.Med shot, market stall
RECENT, ZAMBIA
21.SOUNDBITE (English) Coillard Hamusimbi, Head-Outreach, Zambia National Farmers’ Union:
“Farmers- small or medium scale are assured of stable yields in both bad weather years and good weather years. So we are stabilizing production at national levels and we have also stabilized productivity at the farmer level.”
RECENT, NIGER
22.Various shots, farmers with ox
23.Various shots, women digging earth
24.SOUNDBITE (French) Moussa Angou, Warrentage Project Manager:
“These sacs are sold at ten thousand Francs. Once they are guaranteed, after a few months in stock their price can reach twenty thousand Francs.”
25.Wide shot, workers loading trucks
26.Med shot, workers loading trucks
27.Med shot, workers in seed warehouse
28.Close up, bag of seeds
Food commodities markets will remain volatile in the years ahead. But today’s market fundamentals are sound. Though the issue is troubling, experts say another food price crisis like the one in 2007 and 2008, is unlikely.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates the last food crisis increased the world’s hungry by 100 million. So the European Union stepped in with the € 1 billion Food Facility.
With 228 million Euro being channeled into FAO projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America, 1.8 million families will receive assistance over two years.
In like Sri Lanka, projects are supporting 20,000 families, who were displaced for years by internal strife. FAO and the EU are providing assistance with the clearing of farmland, and the rehabilitation of small-scale irrigation tanks and channels.
The creation of this new infrastructure is vital if farmers are to begin growing crops again.
SOUNDBITE (English) Giuseppe Bronzoni Chief Technical Advisor, FAO Sri Lanka:
“The difference between this project and other food security projects financed by FAO – is that this project has a relevant component of rural engineering. It is not just the delivery of agricultural inputs, fertilizer and seed but also the rehabilitation of permanent agricultural and rural infrastructure, which are tanks, channels, drain channels, irrigation channels and the rehabilitation of abandoned land.”
In Zambia, the emphasis is on conservation farming. This innovative approach is already making a big difference in providing year round food availability and increasing output.
SOUNDBITE (English) Derek Fee, Head of Delegation of the EU to the Republic of Zambia:
“This amazing increase of food prices that happened during the period in 2007 and 2008 has led to a lot of problems in all developing countries because most developing countries are under pressure for food supplies anyway.”
Meanwhile, farmers in Guatemala receive agricultural inputs and training on managing and marketing surplus crops for better returns. FAO expects Guatemalan farmers to see a 25 percent increase in maize production.
SOUNDBITE (English) Coillard Hamusimbi, Head-Outreach, Zambia National Farmers’ Union:
“Farmers- small or medium scale are assured of stable yields in both bad weather years and good weather years. So we are stabilizing production at national levels and we have also stabilized productivity at the farmer level.”
Niger is one of the poorest countries on earth with half the population - 7.1 million people - going hungry.
FAO is providing emergency assistance by delivering seeds and fertilizer, as well as animal feed for livestock, which are vital to livelihoods here.
SOUNDBITE (French) Moussa Angou, Warrentage Project Manager:
“These sacs are sold at ten thousand Francs. Once they are guaranteed, after a few months in stock their price can reach twenty thousand Francs.”
FAO has also set up a micro credit lending system called ‘warrentage’ that will provide long-term support to farmers.
EU-funded FAO programmes bridge the gap between emergency and development. And it’s having a direct and lasting impact on the lives of farmers and their families around the world.
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