The grant will help increase agricultural productivity and production in the Central African Republic.
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group approved on 15 July in Abidjan, a grant of US$ 5.39 million to the Central African Republic.
The money will help produce an additional 32,000 tons of food crops (rice, maize and cassava) and enhance the food security of 100,000 people.
It will also help CAR to implement an emergency food programme to cope with soaring food prices, exacerbated by the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Africa and the rest of the world are coping with the effects of the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has led to a surge in food prices.
The prices of wheat, maize and soya in particular have risen sharply, raising concerns about a major food crisis on the African continent, given the dependence of many countries on food imports from both countries.
To address this eventuality, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group established a US$1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Facility on 20 May 2022.
The facility provides agricultural seeds to 20 million farmers on the continent.
The varieties involved are wheat, maize, rice and soya.
The aim is to produce an additional 38 million tons of food over the next two years, worth $12 billion.
“The war in Ukraine has compounded the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the political and security situation in the Central African Republic. The grant approved today by the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group addresses the pressing needs of many vulnerable households in rural areas,” said Mamady Souaré, the Bank Group’s Country Manager in the Central African Republic.
According to him, the grant will provide farmers with seeds and fertilizers to boost food production and thus improve food security in the Central African Republic.
The grant comes from Pillar I of the Transition Support Facility, an operationally autonomous entity of the African Development Bank Group.
It has a fast, simple and flexible disbursement mechanism designed to help countries consolidate peace, build resilient institutions, stabilize their economies and lay the foundation for inclusive growth.
TE/lb/as/APA