Food and Agriculture Organization
FAO was one of the four sponsoring agencies that led the onchocerciasis control programs, first in West African from 1974 until 2002, and in a second program in central and east Africa since 1995. FAO, along with UNDP, took the lead in development planning. In addition to the public health dimensions of the program’s success in virtually eliminating the disease, the program has also helped wipe out a serious constraint to socio-economic development. That is, 25 million hectares of arable land - enough to feed an additional 17 million people - are now safe for resettlement. FAO now serves as the lead technical agency responsible for coordinating the sustainable settlement and socio-economic development of the now oncho-freed zones in west Africa.
