 The Sustainable Development Goals and Africa's Agenda 2063 defined context in which FAO collaborates with its partners to advance Africa's development priorities over the next decades. By unlocking the potential of intra-African cooperation to bring about rural transformation, the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund, the ASTF, provides catalytic and flexible funding to support Africa for Africa initiatives on food and agriculture at the regional and country level. Homegrown solutions, including knowledge, technology and good practices for food and nutrition security across the continent serve as core enablers of the ASTF. As an FAO initiative, the ASTF already proves its success as an innovative African-led instrument for sustainable development. During the first phase, an initial contribution of 40 million U.S. dollars was made to ASTF, 30 million U.S. dollars from Aquatorial Guinea, 10 million U.S. dollars from Angola, and symbolic contributions from African civil society organizations. During the second phase, a total of 25 million U.S. dollars was newly committed by six countries at the round table of contributors held in Malabo on 11 June 2019. This include 10 million U.S. dollars by Angola, 10 million U.S. dollars by Aquatorial Guinea, 2.6 million U.S. dollars by China, 2 million euro by France, 100,000 U.S. dollars by Aswatini, and 100,000 U.S. dollars by Zimbabwe. The contributions to ASTF have helped African countries in addressing key agricultural issues linked to food security and nutrition, peace and security, gender and women's empowerment, youth employment, environment and climate change, while creating a positive impact on livelihoods locally. In Malawi and Mali, 2,600 farm families and over 1,200 women and youth were empowered to effectively engage in food production and marketing activities and to start up personal businesses. In Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, over 4,000 farm families in Ebola virus disease-affected communities doubled their rice and vegetable production thanks to loan schemes and access to critical inputs and training. In Ethiopia, 12,000 rural small-holders, including women and youth, increased their income thanks to better access to inputs and the promotion of livelihood diversification strategies. In Niger, 160,000 households improved their agricultural productivity and food security thanks to quality input distribution and investment in livestock and small-scale irrigation infrastructure. In South Sudan, 200,000 families in conflict-affected areas enhanced their nutritional intake and almost 19,000 households protected their livelihoods through country-wide vaccination and treatment campaigns. In Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, over 1,500 female and male youth improved their income and access to food through decent job creation and stronger productive capacities in poultry, ag production and aquaculture value chains. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia and Eswatini, over 1,000 women, including the Mitra Club members, were empowered through training in commercialization and value chain development, farming techniques, past management and access to credit and financial inputs. In southern Africa, 4,500 experts from the southern African development community enhanced their capacity to tackle transboundary pasts and diseases through training and coordination support, which enabled the region's successful response to the fall armyworm invasion. The fund has provided direct support to 41 African countries through 18 national and regional projects. It has shown that African solidarity can transform the lives of families, farmers, youths and communities. The ASTF also adds spin-offs and important catalytic effects, leading to replicating and upscaling their interventions by other donors and governments. The fund is now in a more ambitious second phase. This second phase will focus on helping countries to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals at country level, facilitating intra-Africa knowledge sharing, stimulating innovation in food and agriculture, and introducing innovative financial modalities. Through the ASTF, FAO, together with its partners, will continue to transform the lives of Africa's most vulnerable people. Join the ASTF and together we can help transform Africa's future.