The Ministry named the East Africa region, which has been affected by droughts for several years, with countries such as Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and Kenya as other important areas of application. Countries in the Middle East that are the main place of refuge for Syrian refugees and at the same time are struggling with rising food prices are also supported - one example is Lebanon. The newspapers of the Funke Media Group first reported on the new funds.
The ministry wants to combine "directly effective crisis support with sustainable approaches," said the spokeswoman. "The priority here is to strengthen the poorest part of the population, build up and expand our own agricultural production capacities, secure basic social services and alleviate the social hardship of price shocks."
The specific use of the money is currently being discussed with the UN organizations UNICEF and the World Food Program, as well as with civil society organizations such as Welthungerhilfe, the spokeswoman said. The entire sum should be made available in the current year.
According to the ministry, the additional funds are based on commitments made by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) during the German G7 presidency. According to this, Scholz initially pledged 430 million euros in March to deal with the consequences of the Russian war of aggression for global food security. At the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau at the end of June, a further commitment of 450 million euros for the fight against global hunger followed.
