{"id":79461,"date":"2025-10-15T07:06:56","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T07:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement"},"modified":"2025-10-15T07:39:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T07:39:23","slug":"eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement","title":{"rendered":"Eswatini and FAO Sign Historic Food Security Agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Eswatini. <\/strong><\/span><b>The Kingdom of Eswatini has reached a major milestone in its agricultural and food security journey. Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini has officially signed a Host Country Agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), paving the way for the establishment of a fully-fledged FAO representation in Eswatini.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The signing ceremony took place at the FAO Headquarters in Rome and was witnessed by Senator Pholile Shakantu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; the Minister of Agriculture, MP Mandla Tshawuke; and other senior government officials.<\/p>\n<p><b>Fulfilling a Royal Commitment<\/b><\/p>\n<p>This landmark agreement fulfills a commitment made by His Majesty King Mswati III during his 2024 visit to Rome for the World Food Forum, where he emphasized the urgent need for global collaboration to combat food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly among women and the youth.<\/p>\n<p>During that visit, His Majesty requested an upgrade of the existing FAO country office from an Assistant Representative to a full Representative level to speed up decision-making and implementation of key agricultural projects. The Director General of FAO accepted this request and promised to fast-track the signing of the Host Country Agreement in 2025.<\/p>\n<p><b>A Strategic Leap for Agricultural Transformation<\/b><\/p>\n<p>For many years, major project decisions in Eswatini were referred to the FAO sub-regional office in Zimbabwe, which often caused delays. The new agreement changes this dynamic by granting FAO full operational capacity within the Kingdom. The new country office is expected to be operational by January 1, 2026, ensuring faster implementation of agricultural and food security initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>With FAO experts now set to be permanently based in Eswatini, the partnership will drive national and regional efforts to address hunger, malnutrition, climate resilience, and agricultural productivity. The new FAO representation will support technical cooperation, capacity building, and rapid responses to emerging challenges such as droughts, pests, and market disruptions.<\/p>\n<p><b>PM\u2019s Call to Action<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Delivering his signing remarks on behalf of His Majesty, PM described the agreement as a \u201cpivotal milestone in Eswatini\u2019s journey toward food security and sovereignty.\u201d He underscored the government\u2019s commitment to working closely with all stakeholders, public and private, to harness FAO\u2019s expertise to transform the agricultural sector.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the FAO\u2019s technical expertise and partnership, we will fortify food systems, bolster the resilience of smallholder communities, and forge sustainable opportunities for rural residents,\u201d said the PM.<\/p>\n<p>He further emphasized that food security goes beyond availability; it includes ensuring that all citizens have access to safe and nutritious food, while empowering farmers and fostering community resilience.<\/p>\n<p>The Host Country Agreement aligns closely with SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), and supports Eswatini\u2019s broader efforts toward sustainable development. By hosting an FAO office, the Kingdom positions itself as a regional leader in advancing innovative agri-food systems and contributing to global food security.<\/p>\n<p>The agreement provides the legal and operational framework for FAO\u2019s presence, including necessary privileges and immunities for the organization and its staff. This will facilitate closer collaboration between the Government of Eswatini, FAO\u2019s country and regional teams, and other development partners.<\/p>\n<p><b>A New Era of Agricultural Partnership<\/b><\/p>\n<p>This historic signing marks the beginning of a new era in Eswatini\u2019s agricultural development. The Government and FAO will now work on a joint work plan to align technical assistance with national priorities, driving transformative change in rural development, climate resilience, and food systems.<\/p>\n<p>As Eswatini and FAO embark on this shared journey, the Kingdom stands ready to enhance its contribution to global food security and to ensure that every Liswati has access to nutritious, sustainable food for generations to come.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Eswatini<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Eswatini. The Kingdom of Eswatini has reached a major milestone in its agricultural and food security journey. Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini has officially signed a Host Country Agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), paving the way for the establishment of a fully-fledged FAO representation in Eswatini. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":79460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12,242],"tags":[249],"class_list":["post-79461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","category-to-homepage","tag-eswatini"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Eswatini and FAO Sign Historic Food Security Agreement - Eswatini<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Kingdom of Eswatini has reached a major milestone in its agricultural and food security journey. Prime Minister R ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eswatini and FAO Sign Historic Food Security Agreement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Kingdom of Eswatini has reached a major milestone in its agricultural and food security journey. Prime Minister R ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eswatini\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-15T07:06:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-15T07:39:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/10\/sm_1760501276.648807.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Eswatini and FAO Sign Historic Food Security Agreement\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-15T07:06:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-15T07:39:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement\"},\"wordCount\":611,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/10\/sm_1760501276.648807.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Eswatini\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement\",\"name\":\"Eswatini and FAO Sign Historic Food Security Agreement - Eswatini\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/10\/sm_1760501276.648807.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-15T07:06:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-15T07:39:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The Kingdom of Eswatini has reached a major milestone in its agricultural and food security journey. Prime Minister R ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/10\/sm_1760501276.648807.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/10\/sm_1760501276.648807.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Eswatini and FAO Sign Historic Food Security Agreement\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Eswatini and FAO Sign Historic Food Security Agreement\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/\",\"name\":\"Eswatini\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Eswatini and FAO Sign Historic Food Security Agreement - Eswatini","description":"The Kingdom of Eswatini has reached a major milestone in its agricultural and food security journey. Prime Minister R ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Eswatini and FAO Sign Historic Food Security Agreement","og_description":"The Kingdom of Eswatini has reached a major milestone in its agricultural and food security journey. Prime Minister R ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement","og_site_name":"Eswatini","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-10-15T07:06:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-15T07:39:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/10\/sm_1760501276.648807.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Eswatini and FAO Sign Historic Food Security Agreement","datePublished":"2025-10-15T07:06:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-15T07:39:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement"},"wordCount":611,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/10\/sm_1760501276.648807.jpg","keywords":["Eswatini"],"articleSection":["all news","head lines","policy","to-homepage"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement","name":"Eswatini and FAO Sign Historic Food Security Agreement - Eswatini","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/10\/sm_1760501276.648807.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-15T07:06:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-15T07:39:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The Kingdom of Eswatini has reached a major milestone in its agricultural and food security journey. Prime Minister R ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/10\/sm_1760501276.648807.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2025\/10\/sm_1760501276.648807.jpg","width":1080,"height":720,"caption":"Eswatini and FAO Sign Historic Food Security Agreement"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/eswatini-and-fao-sign-historic-food-security-agreement#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Eswatini and FAO Sign Historic Food Security Agreement"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/","name":"Eswatini","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}