Food and Nutrition Security in Africa seminar in Helsinki 16 June 2014 - Opening remarks, Jaana Husu-Kallio, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland

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FoodAfrica Midterm Seminar
Food and Nutrition Security in Africa
16 June 2014, Helsinki, Finland
Opening remarks
Dr. Jaana Husu-Kallio, Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland

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Food security
• Access to food
• Peoples ability to adquire
food
• Usability and safety of food
• Stability in the access to
food

3. Why food security is important
• Worldwide 842 million people
suffer from hunger
• Of those 230 million in Africa
• Every third child in a
developing country suffer
from malnutrition
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4. Challenges that agriculture face in
developing countries
• Productivity of agriculture is low
• Significant losses in the beginning of production chain
• Small profits to the producer
• Small scale producers, who are often women. Womens right
to own land is sometimes limited.
• Land being used to produce bioenergy instead of food
• Population of rural areas move to cities
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5. FoodAfrica
• Investments in agricultural research play a key role in
raising agricultural productivity and enhancing food
security
• The FoodAfrica Program was launched in 2011 as a
practical outcome of the Finnish Government
development co-operation policy on rural development
and food security
• FoodAfrica focus is on research
• It aims to provide new knowledge and tools for
researchers, decision makers and local African farmers
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Nandi Hills, Kenya
Countryside in Nandi Hills, Kenya