The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released an online magazine which highlights results of their development agenda. It captures the contribution the Netherlands has made in 2015 to ban poverty and promote sustainable and inclusive growth around the world through the combined agenda for aid, trade and investment. In 2015, the Food and Nutrition Security program directly affected millions of undernourished people. A similar number was also reached indirectly. The Netherlands wishes to structurally support (cumulatively) 32 million people with their malnutrition between 2016 and 2030 and thereby contribute to Global Goal 2: end hunger and eradicate malnutrition.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has managed, in a short term, to avoid cutting rations destined for refugees in Tanzania, thanks to a £1 million (more than 2.6bn/-) contribution from Britain's Department for International Development (DFID), WFP was about to cut rations in October for nearly a quarter of a million refugees, given its lack of funds for its refugee operations in Tanzania. But now for the time being these operations can continue as normal.

From January 2016, thousands of pastoralists arrived in Djibouti from the Somali region of Ethiopia and from the Somaliland Region of Somalia, fleeing one of the most severe droughts of the last decade. Many pregnant women and children under five among the displaced showed signs of acute malnutrition and anemia. Half of the adult men and women were underweight and many were suffering chronic coughs, tuberculosis and diarrheal diseases. In April 2016, the number of displaced pastoralists totalled 9,650 in different settlement sites in Ali-Sabieh, Dickhil and Obock regions of Djibouti.

The National Coordinator of ‘Capacity4food’ Project, Alie Kamara has said that the African Continent has resolved to use Agriculture as an engine for economic growth and development.
He made this statement at the final conference of the Capacity4food project held at the Njala University Guest Conference Hall at Njala Campus, week. He recalled the statement made by a former president of America Roosevelt, saying a nation that destroys it soil destroys itself.

EU-GIZ partnership to benefit island communities and schools through improved supply of clean water, access to solar-powered electricity and fuel from biogas. Fourteen Pacific island countries and Timor Leste are working on 22 projects to increase resilience and improve access to fresh water and energy for island communities. The projects are funded by the European Union, through their EDF10 Pacific Regional Programme (PRIP).

“By importing so much food, small island developing states - SIDS - are basically exporting jobs”. This was the message of CTA Director Michael Hailu at the recently held Brussels Briefing on “Agribusiness development in SIDS: the potential of tourism-related markets”. The Briefing delivered a strong impetus for the strengthening of linkages between local agri-food and tourism sectors, in order to support sustainable economic development and employment, and reduce the dependence on cheap imported foods which has led to dangerous rates of non-communicable diseases in many SIDS.

On 18 September, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) received GBP3 million (about $3.9 million) from the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) for its cash and voucher assistance programme supporting conflict-affected communities in Sudan. WFP plans to use GBP2 million ($2.6 million) to support 220,000 displaced across Darfur with vouchers for four months, helping them to purchase a wide variety of food items from local shops.

Europe is at last fully converted to the merits of boosting investment in order to achieve sustainable growth. The EU is doing so with an internal investment plan (commonly referred to as the Juncker Plan or as the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), writes San Bilal. San Bilal is the Head of the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) Economic Transformation and Trade Programme. In his State of the Union address, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced the doubling of its duration and its amount, to at least €500 billion.

WFP plans to use GBP 2 million to support 220,000 displaced people across Darfur with vouchers for four months, helping them to purchase a wide variety of food items from local shops. The remaining GBP 1 million will be used to top up a contribution of GBP 2.2 million that WFP received early this year for the launch of a cash assistance programme. While providing families with food items they can purchase and eat, cash and vouchers also boost the local economy, helping to stimulate markets by engaging traders that buy from local farmers and markets.

It’s the scariest thing to face the Caribbean since Johnny Depp’s eyeliner in “Pirates of the Caribbean.” The area known for coconuts is battling a serious shortage of its signature crop. Sorry, coconut milk and water lovers. The serious shortage comes following a multipronged attack of storms, droughts, bugs and the creepy-sounding Lethal Yellowing, a disease that kills palm trees. Result: Caribbean plantations have already shrunk up to 17% since 1994, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.