RENEWED PARTNERSHIP FOR A UNIFIED APPROACH TO END HUNGER IN AFRICA
REMARKS BY FAO DIRECTOR-GENERAL
JOSÉ GRAZIANO DA SILVA
AFRICAN UNION CONFERENCE CENTER
30 JUNE 2013, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

Ladies and gentlemen,
It is an honour to be here in Addis Ababa. I want to thank the African Union and the Government of Ethiopia for their hospitality and partnership.
Yesterday, a working meeting of non-state actors helped to set the tone for the discussions on food security in Africa.
Let me thank them for their contribution, commitment and valuable ideas. And let me stress that we can win the war against hunger only if we work together.
This meeting in Addis Ababa will support our efforts to end hunger by transforming political will into further and coordinated action.
One thing is needed: understand that to end hunger we must look beyond simple increases in food production. Producing more is very important, but is not enough.
We need to address the many issues that keep people from being food secure, including the lack of access to food which is the main cause of hunger today.
Investment in agriculture remains the single most effective way to provide opportunities for families to generate income and improve nutrition in Africa, especially for women and youth in rural areas.
But we also need to strengthen social protection networks, cash-for-work programs and other actions that help to break the cycle of vulnerability.
And linking productive support with social protection can create virtuous circles of local development. There are many ways to do this, and many African countries are already exploring these possibilities.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is in this context, that FAO, the African Union Commission, and Instituto Lula of Brazil have joined forces through the Renewed Partnership for a Unified Approach to End Hunger in Africa.
This partnership combines the leadership of the African Union Commission, the technical expertise of FAO, and the political backing of former Brazilian President Lula da Silva.
Our roadmap aims to look at approaches and programs that are working well, help countries to learn from them, and adapt them to meet their specific needs.
We are not here to reinvent the wheel. We are here to find the best ways to scale up what is already working in region and to renew our political will to end hunger in Africa
I look forward to learning from successful actions taken in Africa, Asia and Latin America that will be shared during this meeting.
I thank you all for being here. And I am positive that we will have a successful meeting.