Food security: Gambia secures $9m loan from AfDB

NaijaAgroNet:

The Gambian government has signed a USD 9 million loan agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, to finance an agriculture value chains project, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The acting Vice-President, Sector Operations, AfDB, Kapil Kapoor, who signed the agreement for the bank, said that project which involves the production, processing and storage of or rice and livestock, will improve food security and create jobs.

He also said that the project is aligned with the bank’s High-5 priorities, especially the Feed Africa component, stressing that the government would implement the project as quickly as possible in line with the bank's new accelerated projects and programmes delivery approach.

In response, the Gambian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister, Abdou Kolley, who signed the agreement for his country, thanked the bank for the support, and said the project will go a long way toward the realization of his county's food self-sufficiency goal and promised that the government would work hard to reduce bottlenecks which cause delays in the projects implementation.

The Agriculture Value Chains Development Project (AVCDP) which was approved in March 2016, seeks to increase, on a sustainable basis, the income of rural producers, entrepreneurs engaged in the production, processing, storage and marketing of rice and livestock. It will also create shared wealth and jobs.

Okoli Vincent/GEE

 
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Fish Center, WFO sign MoU on food security

NaijaAgroNet:

The World Fish Center (WFC) and World Farmer’s Organisation (WFO) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote food security and rural development, reports NaijaAgroNet. 

The WFO, NaijaAgroNet gathers is an assemblage of national farmers’ organisations and agricultural cooperatives in 44 countries in order to represent and safeguard global food security, the environment as well as the socio-economic wealth of rural communities. On the other hand, the WFC, an international scientific research center part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) involved in promoting sustainable fishing and safeguarding water resources.

NaijaAgroNet reports that WFO Executive Director, Marco Marzano de Marinis, described the MoU between WFO and WFC as efforts at supporting agricultural organisations, with the firm belief that farmers and fishermen are a fundamental resource for global food security, rural development, and, in general, for global development.

“Farmers are the main investors in their sector, thus they have to be involved in any strategy aimed at raising their incomes and promoting this sector. Thus, farmers need better policies and a normative framework which includes economic incentives,” Marco Marzano said.

NaijaAgroNet notes that farmers and fishermen are fundamental resources for global food security and rural development. A 10-year agreement has been signed to strengthen their partnership as well as cooperate to develop projects and programs aimed at supporting farmers through learning and development initiatives. The activities will consist of mutual planning and support in research, promotion through conferences, seminars, workshops, but especially the development of common policies and advocacy strategies.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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