RP, 22 other countries to benefit from EU food program

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will be one of 23 developing countries expected to benefit from the first phase of a €1-billion (P64.083 billion) food facility program of the European Commission. In an article on the European Commission Web site, the EC said it adopted a €314-million package of projects to support agriculture and improve food security situation in 23 developing countries. “Europe has already made humanitarian responses to the food crisis through emergency aid. The ‘Food Facility’ is the development response - €1 billion over 3 years to get agriculture back on its feet," said Louis Michel, the commissioner responsible for Development and Humanitarian Aid. This will be the first financing decision in the framework of the €1-billion Food Facility adopted at the end of 2008 as a response to food security problems faced by many developing countries. Also to benefit from the program are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burma/Myanmar, Burundi, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Pakistan, Palestine, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. The Commission has also agreed to an overall plan for the use of the entire amount of the Facility, targeting 50 developing countries in total. “Over the months ahead, we must not forget the impact that the financial crisis and economic downturn will have on developing countries - this is only now becoming clear and could be much worse than expected. Europe is quite rightly focused on recovery plans for our own economy. That should not in any way diminish our commitment to developing countries - as decisions like this one taken today clearly show," Michel said. On December 18 last year, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a Regulation establishing the €1-billion Food Facility as the main EU response to the worsening global food security situation in 2007/08. - GMANews.TV