Gates foundation grant for FAO
Rome - The quality of statistical information from 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa will be dramatically increased with grant funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reported FAO today.
The US$ 5.6 million grant over two years will allow the 17 countries identified, through the FAO country statistics information system (CountrySTAT), to substantially improve the quality, accessibility, relevance and reliability of their national statistics on food and agriculture. In so doing, it will facilitate planning and decision-making by policy makers and analysts, particularly in the push to reduce hunger and poverty.
«Ensuring reliability of country data is crucial both to governments and to those working with countries to reduce undernourishment and strengthen agricultural and rural development. With good and reliable data it is much easier to pinpoint where assistance is working, where it may be weak and understanding possible future needs», says Hafez Ghanem, FAO Assistant Director-General for the Economic and Social Development.