Japan donates E25m food
MBABANE – Over 25 000 pupils and 700 small-holder farmers have benefitted from the Government of Japan’s assistance to Eswatini to date.
This was revealed by the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Country Director, Deepak Shah, who said the Homegrown School Feeding Pilot Programme would be continued in 50 schools that already had the programme running. “The assistance is not only targeted at school-going children, but also small-holder farmers who are selling their locally produced commodities to the participating schools. This project will contribute to the betterment of livelihoods and improve the economic status of emaSwati,” he said.
Shah pointed out that since 2017, the Government of Japan, through WFP, had also been providing cooked meals to 58 000 vulnerable children under the age of six years in the 1 700 neighbourhood care points (NCPs) spread across the country.
“Due to the exacerbated impact of COVID-19, the focus has been on improving food security of the pandemic affected population. WFP, working with its sister United Nations agencies and other stakeholders, is committed to achieving zero hunger under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030,” he said.
MBABANE – Japan’s Ambassador to Eswatini Norio Maruyama has stated that the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) would continue to facilitate programmes meant for Africa’s development.
Speaking at the exchange of papers between his government and that of Eswatini at the Hilton Garden Inn in Mbabane yesterday, Maruyama said Japan’s intervention in Africa through TICAD was part of its drive to support the economic development of the continent. “TICAD is an open multilateral conference framework that covers essential fields for sustainable and comprehensive development of African countries, with African ownership and partnership from development partners as its cornerstone,” he said.
Maruyama revealed that TICAD’s conference will be held in Tunisia from August 27-28.
MBABANE – The Government of Japan has announced food assistance to the value of E25 million for the Kingdom of Eswatini through WFP.
The signing of the agreement between the two countries took place at the Hilton Garden Inn in Mbabane yesterday. Japan Ambassador to Eswatini Norio Maruyama, mentioned that his country would deliver 400 tonnes of maize, 440 tonnes of Japanese rice and 170 tonnes of beans. Maruyama said his country had been continuously providing food aid to Eswatini in cooperation with the WFP since 2016. WFP is the World Food Programme.
“The Kingdom of Eswatini is facing prolonged deterioration in food security and the risk of worsening malnutrition, high commodity prices and COVID-19 negative impact, among other factors. This aid is aimed at improving food security and supporting the economic and social development of the country,” he said. Minister of Economic Planning and Development Dr Tambo Gina said the Kingdom of Eswatini appreciated the contribution made by the Government of Japan in different sectors of the country’s economy.
He said the country was privileged to have Japan as a development partner whose priorities of improving the basic lives of the socially vulnerable was well aligned with the country’s Poverty Reduction Strategy and National Development Plan (NDP). Gina outlined that Japan had assisted the country in a number of projects.
“These projects, including the Homegrown School Feeding Pilot, which commenced in 2019, have had a significant impact in improving the quality of life for socially vulnerable emaSwati. In the last two years alone, we have received from the Government of Japan food assistance worth E37.4 million,” he said. Gina said such assistance from Japan had helped the government to increase access to education by retaining school-going children.
Appreciation
“I, therefore, express my appreciation for the cooperation between the ministries of Education, Agriculture, WFP, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, and other stakeholders in the implementation of the Homegrown School Feeding Pilot,” he said. Ambassador Maruyama emphasised that Japan was committed towards improving the livelihood of vulnerable people in Eswatini. He highlighted that Japan had also provided assistance to Eswatini in the fields of education, agriculture, water supply and health.
He mentioned the other areas of intervention as construction and improvement of primary and secondary schools, provision of agriculture equipment (64 tractors), provision of medical equipment (defibrillators, blood gas analysers, and ambulances). “We have also provided water supply equipment in the form of a water well rig and a water supply tank and also provided emergency grant aid through UNICEF,” he said.
UNICEF stands for United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.
Agricultural equipment (tractors), medical equipment and ground water harvesting equipment equals E69.5 million from the Japanese to date. This is besides assistance targeted at the Homegrown School Feeding Pilot Programme.