Attachments
Partnership at a Glance
Since the creation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), France has been an active and generous partner, working closely with the Organization in support of shared food security and agricultural development goals. France’s support is characterized by its financial contributions and the secondment of high-level French technical experts, and by its efforts to strengthen the place of agriculture and food issues amongst the priorities of the international community. Likewise, the country contributes to the creation of inclusive global governance that promotes the participation of all relevant actors at the global, regional and national levels.
The successive renewals of the Framework Agreements between France and FAO since 2005 (2005–2012, 2012–2017 and 2018–2021) illustrate France’s commitment to FAO’s mission and ambitious objectives. Dynamic collaboration, based on mutual trust, is reflected in the uninterrupted provision of financial and technical resources, including the secondment of experts and the strengthening of cooperation with high-level research institutes. Indeed, almost 60 highly qualified French experts have been mobilized in various fields since 2009, as well as nearly 15 Associate Professional Officers since 2005.
Over the years, the different Framework Agreements have focused on a variety of themes whose evolution reflects the increasing complexity of global issues and how FAO is evolving to respond effectively to them within its mandate and its missions. France has supported a wide range of projects, from the improvement of public policies and the competitiveness of the agricultural sector, to the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The country has also backed the strengthening of global and sustainable food management systems and the promotion of agroecology, health security — as part of the “One World, One Health” approach — resilience, food safety, rural employment, responsible investments in agriculture, land governance and gender equality.
Since 2009, France has been one of FAO’s top financial contributors with an average of EUR 26 million(USD 29 million) 2 in assessed contributions per year until 2019. On top of its total EUR 285 million (USD 318.5 million) in assessed contributions between 2009 and 2019, France has provided an additional EUR 37 million (USD 41.3 million) in voluntary contributions. In recent years (2016–2019), the Partnership at a glance majority of its voluntary contributions (59 percent) went towards FAO’s work to increase the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises. During the same period, 59 percent of the contributions were dedicated to the African continent.
In 2015, France provided an annual voluntary contribution of EUR 4 million (USD 4.5 million), almost half of which was assigned to a project to promote resilience in Madagascar in response to a locust infestation. Likewise, in 2016, 38 percent of voluntary contributions [EUR 1.4 million (USD 1.6 million)] were allocated through the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) to a project to support African-Eurasian migratory water bird conservation, followed by activities to promote resilience in the Niger and the Central African Republic. In 2017, France provided EUR 1.4 million (USD 1.6 million) in voluntary contributions, 40 percent of which were allocated to ongoing projects.
Most recently, in December 2018, the country channeled EUR 4 million (USD 4.5 million) in voluntary contributions to FAO to finance actions aimed at reducing inequalities and preserving food security in a context of climate change. FAO welcomed France’s decision to earmark 75 percent of these contributions in support of FAO’s pooled funding mechanisms, reflecting the country’s support to the principles underlying the new financing pact created in response to the reform of the United Nations development system. In particular, EUR 1 million (USD 1.1 million) was provided to FAO’s Flexible Multi-Partner Mechanism (FMM), and EUR 2 million (USD 2.2 million) were channeled to the innovative Africa Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF) — making France the first non-African donor to contribute to the Fund. Also, EUR 1 million (USD 1.1 million) were allocated to issues related to the resilience of food systems to sanitary and phytosanitary risks. This includes a contribution to the fight against sheep and goat plague and foot-and-mouth disease through support to the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (EuFMD) and to the Crisis Management Centre for Animal Health.
France also substantially contributes to the European Union’s (EU) budget (15.7 percent of its budget in 2017). The EU has been the first voluntary contributor to FAO with more than EUR 920 million (USD 1 billion) to projects and programmes implemented by FAO from 2012–2017. The EU-FAO partnership is strong and keeps growing, as evidenced by the increase in EU voluntary contributions in recent years.