U.N. food agency presents projects to improve situation in five African countries

Photo: U.N. food agency presents projects to improve situation in five African countries

U.N. food agency presents projects to improve situation in five African countries

The projects are worth a total of US$4.5 million (Ђ3.5 million) and are financed by the Italian government, the food agency said.

The first, which is worth US$3 million (Ђ2.35 million), targets the Great Lakes region of three bordering countries - Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, which depend heavily on rainfall, the AP reports.

The project will help train farmers to use available water resources efficiently, the agency said.

The other, a US$1.5 million (Ђ1.18 million) project, will improve cassava production in Malawi and Zambia, and increase its commercial potential by, for instance, processing it into starch so that it can be exported, FAO said.

Recurrent droughts and poor yields of maize, which is sensitive to climate changes, have encouraged the farming of cassava, which has become Africa's fastest growing food crop, the food agency said.