Minister of Fisheries of Mauritania El Vadil Ahmed Louly, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Burkina Fasto Amadou Dicko, FAO Assistant Director General Alue Dohong, and Principal Secretary of Kenya’s State Department for Agriculture Paul Kipronoh Ronoh attended a subsequent, high-level discussion on improving food security in Africa. (Photo: Juli Sekiguch/IAEA).
In Africa, food security challenges are growing in 2024, with approximately 20 per cent of the African population — 307 million people — experiencing hunger last year, according to the 2025 edition of the SOFI report which was published in July 2025 in Addis Ababa during the UNFSS+4 event.
The panel discussion on food and agriculture featured representatives of Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Kanya and FAO, who described the benefits of the joint FAO-IAEA Atoms4Food initiative. Launched by the two organizations in 2023 based on the longstanding partnership through the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, the Atoms4Food initiative aims to provide solutions tailored to each country’s agrifood system’s needs.
Atoms4Food assessment missions help countries to map their food security needs and develop a plan to address identified challenges. Under the Atoms4Food initiative, the IAEA, together with FAO, supports countries to use nuclear and isotopic techniques in six key areas: crop variety improvement, soil and water management and crop nutrition, animal production and health, insect pest control, food safety and control and public health nutrition.
“In Burkina Faso, as part of the Atoms4Food initiative, eight high-yield rice varieties were developed and included in the national variety catalogue. As well, the analysis laboratories were reinforced with various materials and equipment, thus enhancing their performance,” explained Amadou Dicko, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Animal Resources and Fisheries, Burkina Faso. He expressed appreciation to the first country assessment of Atoms4Food in Burkina Faso, which laid the foundation for a successful implementation of integrated projects.
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