EU to mobilize €600 m to back ACP states in face of food crisis

22 / 06 / 2022

By Marwa Nassar - -

The European Commission adopted today a proposal to mobilize €600 million from the reserves of the European Development Fund to address the current food security crisis aggravated by the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

These funds will support African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to cope with the dire situation, through humanitarian assistance (€150 million), sustainable production and resilience of food systems (€350 million) and macro-economic support (€100 million).

Announcing the new support measure at the 2022 European Development Days in Brussels, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said the Russian military operation “is taking a heavy and senseless toll, not only on the Ukrainian population, but also those most vulnerable around the world. Russia is still blocking millions of tons of desperately needed grain. To help our partners we will mobilize an additional 600 million euros to avoid a food crisis and an economic shock.”

Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, said: “Solidarity is at the core of our European Union values. The most vulnerable are facing tremendous suffering with a worsened food crisis” following Russia’s military operation. “With these additional €600 million, we will strengthen our support to address the crisis, while contributing to sustainable and resilient food systems.”