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Tag: IFAD

  • IFAD spends $317m on 10 projects in Nigeria – FG

    IFAD spends $317m on 10 projects in Nigeria – FG

    The International Fund for Agricultural Development Fund (IFAD) has spent $317.6 million in financing over 10 projects in Nigeria, the Federal Government has said.

    The government said that Nigeria’s contribution to IFAD’s resources had increased from $4.1 million in 2013 to $11.8 million in 2014.

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Shehu Ahmed, said this on Monday in Abuja at a sharing and learning workshop on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) organized by IFAD for participating countries in West and Central Africa.

    Ahmed, who was represented by the Director, Rural Development, Mr. Olumuyiwa Azeez, said that Nigeria has been collaborating with the organization for over 30 years to increase access to finance by rural farmers.

    “Nigeria as a founding member of the IFAD has been collaborating with the body for over 30 years with IFAD financing over 10 projects in Nigeria for a total amount of US$317.6 million.

    “The Nigeria portfolio is one of the most important in the sub-Saharan Africa and globally. In addition, Nigeria has been contributing significantly to the replenishment of IFAD resources.

    “I am happy to learn that the level of disbursement of the Nigeria portfolio has improved significantly with increase of 187% from US$4.1 million in 2013 – 2014 to US$11.8 million during 2014.

    “The size of IFAD loans to Nigeria has continued to grow over the years and it has concluded country programme evaluation and would develop new country strategy for 2016/2020.

    “We are glad that the Fund will continue to work in partnership with Federal and state Governments in the adoption of market-led approach to drive inclusive growth for small holder farmers, women, youth and entrepreneur.”

    The permanent secretary pledged government’s commitment to its long standing relationship with IFAD and to the success of its programmes.

    Ahmed said IFAD financed 10 projects in the country which include; Community-Based Natural Resources Management Programme (CBNRMP) and Rural Finance Institutions Building Programme (RUFIN).

    Others are; Value Change Development Programme (VCDP), Climate Change Adaption and Agribusiness Support Programme among others.

    In his remarks, the Director, West and Central African Division, IFAD, Mr. Ides de Willebios, said, the workshop had brought together project teams from seven Anglophones African countries.

    He listed the participating countries as Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Uganda and Nigeria; and IFAD country teams, specialized consultants and representatives from Ministries of Agriculture.

    He said the workshop was part of a wider regional capacity building programme for management teams of IFAD supported projects and programmes.

    According to him, said there was a great deal to learn from the variety of country context, adding that building bonds among professional practitioners confronted with similar challenges was essential.

    The director said in the last annual performance reviews of the IFAD portfolio in the region, weaknesses in management, notably strategic planning and M&E was repeatedly identified.

    According to him, M&E is still not often used as a management tool to facilitate informed decision making and projects results are not systematically documented.

    He said the ultimate goal of the workshop was to improve the performance of programmes so as to enhance the likelihood of reaching development objectives and the expected impact on reducing rural poverty and agricultural development

    He expressed IFAD’s gratitude to the Government of Nigeria for its continuous commitment to a strong cooperation with IFAD and in particular to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for its strong support.

  • Oil revenue no longer sustainable – Buhari

    Oil revenue no longer sustainable – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said the time has come for Nigerians to stop paying lip service to agriculture, saying crude oil and gas exports will no longer be sufficient as the country’s major revenue earner.

    The President made the remark during an audience with Dr. Kanayo Nwanze, the Nigerian- born President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Buhari in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said: “It’s time to go back to the land. We must face the reality that the petroleum we had depended on for so long will no longer suffice.

    “We campaigned heavily on agriculture, and we are ready to assist as many who want to go into agricultural ventures.”

    The President promised that his administration will also cut short the long bureaucratic processes that Nigerian farmers had to go through before getting assistance from government.

    He told the IFAD president that improvement of farmers’ productivity, dry season farming and creative ways to combat the shrinking of the Lake Chad will also receive the attention of his administration.

    He said: “There is so much to be done. We will try and articulate a programme and consult organizations like IFAD for advise.”

    He said that foreign exchange will be conserved for machinery and other items needed for production, “instead of using it to import things like toothpicks.”

    Dr. Nwanze congratulated President Buhari on his victory at the general election and assured him that IFAD is ready to give all possible assistance to the Federal Government and Nigerian farmers to boost agricultural production in the country.

     

  • IFAD boss tasks G20 Agric Ministers on rural investment

    The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has made a case for improved agricultural financing.

    Josefina Stubbs, Associate Vice-President of IFAD, who represented the Fund the G20 Agriculture Ministers meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, advocated on behalf of the 76 per cent of the world poorest people who reside in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, stressing that the importance of investing in rural people in developing countries was paramount.

    “IFAD believes it is essential to bring millions of smallholder farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs, women and men, into the financial mainstream, if we want them to become capable investors who can drive sustainable and inclusive agriculture and food systems,” Stubbs said.

    “The G20 can truly play a catalytic role and create a more enabling environment for increased investment in agriculture and food systems in all countries,” Stubbs added. “And IFAD will continue to provide its expertise to help realise these objectives.”

    At the second ever ministerial meeting in Turkey, the focus was on how to encourage high quality, responsible investment in the rural sector and in agriculture.

    The G20, a forum for supporting international economic cooperation and decision-making, is made up of 19 countries plus the European Union that represent about 85 per cent of global GDP and two-thirds of the world’s population.

    Last year, G20 leaders released the Food Security and Nutrition Framework, which aims to strengthen inclusive economic growth by increasing investment in food systems, raise productivity to expand food supply, and increase incomes and quality jobs.

  • UN agency applauds Ogun agric initiative

    UN agency applauds Ogun agric initiative

    A United Nations’ agency, the International Fund For Agricultural Development (IFAD) has offered to provide incentives that will improve the state’s agricultural value chain.

    Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN agency in Rome and Chairman IFAD Board, Dr. Yaya Olaniran, said the organisation is fascinated by the industrialisation and urban renewal drive of the Governor Ibikunle Amosun administration towards provision of necessary road networks that has opened up the hinterland to commercial activities.

    This, according to him, has in turn improved the standard of living the people of the state, particularly farmers.

    He spoke when he paid a courtesy call on the governor in Abeokuta yesterday. Olaniran a former commissioner of agriculture in the state,  said: “Your giant strides in the area of industrialisation and infrastructural development that has improved the standard of living of the people is attractive and that is why we have come to see ways we can partner with you to aid your agricultural production and better the lives of our farmers too.”

    He said IFAD is ready to support the state in the area of agricultural production, adding that the agency intends to make farmers become buoyant businessmen, particularly in the area of large scale cassava and rice production.

    Responding to the development, Amosun commended IFAD for its interest in the state. He restated his administration’s determination and commitment to use agricultural production to galvanise the growth of other sectors of the state’s economy.

    He said when agriculture is properly harnessed with the corresponding value chain, Ogun  State will not only feed itself and the Southwest but also the entire country.

    Amosun said the initiative of his government would also nose-dive into industrialisation as many of the unemployed youths in the state will be employed along the line and also become employers of labour.

    He said present realities at the State Agricultural Farms set up for youths show that the agric sector has the potential to keep the unemployed youths out of the street.

    Governor Amosun promised that the state would not fail to contribute its quota in form counterpart funding as soon as the organisation makes real its plans.

  • IFAD boss, others speak on agric investments in Ebola-affected countries

    IFAD boss, others speak on agric investments in Ebola-affected countries

    Ebola ravaged countries are not only contending with the debilitating ailment but also at a brink of a food crisis.

    Appalled by this development, Dr Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), along with Florence Chenoweth, Minister of Agriculture, Liberia and Joseph Sam Sesay, ?Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, Sierra Leone addressed a press conference on the concerns.

    IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialised United Nations agency based in Rome – the UN’s food and agriculture hub.

    Nwanze in his keynote address at the World Food Prize international symposium stressed the importance of investing in rural agriculture around the world, especially in the face of issues such as the current Ebola crisis, climate change, and other challenges.

    Worried that the food crisis could assume an epic proportion, the IFAD boss impressed on the governments at all levels to close ranks in order to stem the tide of food crisis and forestall other dire consequences.

    IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, IFAD has provided over US$16 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached more than 430 million people.

     

  • IFAD President meets top officials, smallholder farmers in Angola

    IFAD President meets top officials, smallholder farmers in Angola

    Mr Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), will meet top officials in the Republic of Angola during his official visit country from Wednesday to Friday.

    While there has been economic growth in Angola, inequality remains as well as poverty, particularly in rural areas. Despite being a middle income country, significant parts of the country remain “fragile” and justify continued and incremental support to rural development. Also, as the Government has increased levels of public resources, there is a need to use these public resources to leverage private-sector financing and the support of other development partners to scale up successes, for example in IFAD-supported projects. Scaling up is a critical mission for IFAD in Angola.

    On the eve of his departure for Luanda, Nwanze said: “Farming is a business and a dignified profession, one that produces food, creates jobs, generates wealth and empowers people”. He went on to say that “IFAD is committed to working together with the Government of Angola in investing in rural people in the country, in particularly young women and men, so that they can stay in rural areas and contribute to their own development.”

    In Angola, Nwanze will meet President José Eduardo dos Santos, the Vice President Manuel Domingos Vicente, the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development Afonso Pedro Canga, the Minister for Fisheries is Ms Victoria de Barros Neto, the Minister of External Relations Georges Rebelo Chicoti, the Minister of Finance Armando Manuel and the Minister of Environment Maria de Fátima Jardim. Their discussions will focus on the role of smallholder farmers in ensuring food security in Angola, climate change and the opportunities agriculture can offer to the rural youth.

    While in the country, Nwanze will visit the IFAD-supported Market-oriented Smallholder Agriculture Project to see first-hand how project participants have improved their lives. This project aims to increase the agricultural production of small farmers in the Province of Bié, Huambo and Malanje.

    A new Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture Project is in the design phase. Its purpose is to reduce poverty in artisanal inland fishing and support small-scale fish-farming households.

    To date, IFAD has financed four projects in Angola for a total investment of US$36.1 million, benefiting 185,800 households.

  • $2 million IFAD grant to FAO for capacity development

    $2 million IFAD grant to FAO for capacity development

    The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has hinted of plans to provide a grant of US$2 million to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for enhanced management and implementation of agricultural development programmes.

    The pilot project will improve planning capacity of developing countries. Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of IFAD, and José Graziano da Silva, Director General of FAO, signed the grant agreement today at IFAD headquarters in Rome.

    The activities spelled out in the grant will initially be implemented in ten fragile countries and low-income countries not designated (by the World Bank) as fragile, but in which agricultural institutions are weak. The grant aims to provide capacity development support for better governance, project management and implementation, along with knowledge sharing. In order to maximize synergies and impact, the grant activities will be delivered in a coordinated way through a specific Accelerated Capacity-Development Plan (ACDP).

    IFAD had worked closely with FAO since its inception, initially to design investment programmes, and expanding gradually to collaboration in strategy development, implementation support and learning lessons. The first learning phase will build a knowledge base and the operational platform for a more ambitious capacity-development programme.

  • ‘Nigerian farmers to earn $800m from cassava chip export’

    The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, yesterday said Nigeria has secured about 3.2 million metric tonnes (MT) of cassava chips for export to China, which would give farmers and processors over $800 million.

    Adesina spoke in Abuja at this year’s Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Alumni Association’s gathering.

    He said the nation had also attracted $4 billion in executed letters of intent for investments in agriculture.

    The minister, who was represented by an Assistant Director, Mr. Femi Olaleye, said the World Bank, African Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) were putting in about $2 billion to support Nigeria’s agricultural transformation.

    Adesina said: “Nigeria has secured 3.2 MT of cassava chips for export to China. When concluded, this will earn farmers over $800 million. It is commendable that KOICA is further complementing these efforts with the support of the establishment of cassava processing centres in Kogi, Enugu and Ogun states.

    “The impact of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda has been huge for Nigeria. In just one year, we have produced an additional 9 million MT of food. At the same time, our food imports declined by $5.3 billion. Over 2.7 million farm-jobs were created, or 77 per cent of our overall target.

    “To reduce Nigeria’s almost $4 billion import bill on wheat annually, the government had to embark on the cassava flour substitution policy to replace some of the wheat flour used in bread and confectionaries.”

    The minister said some of Nigeria’s top bakers had incorporated 20 per cent high quality cassava flour into baking their bread.

    He added: “As the commercialisation of cassava bread reaches its peak, it will reduce our wheat import bill by almost $800 million and put the money back in the pockets of Nigerian farmers, processors and bakers.

    “To accelerate the production of high quality cassava flour, the government is supporting the private sector to access cheap financing from China, through the China Exim Bank, to import and establish eight large-scale cassava-processing plants.

    “The low interest financing from the china Exim Bank is in the tune of $1.2 billion. To further scale up nationwide production and commercialisation of cassava bread, President Goodluck Jonathan established a $60 million cassava-bread fund.”

    South Korean Ambassador Hyung Choi said he realised that true partnership was important.

     

     

    He said KOICA was willing to partner the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to utilise the sector’s dynamics and promote public awareness and participation among civil societies.

    The envoy noted that the “Miracle of the Han River”, which transformed his country, was possible in Nigeria.

    The Chief Resident Representative of KOICA in Nigeria, Jung Sang-Hoon, said last year’s KOICA’s total aid volume was about $445.2 million.

    He said Asia received a major portion of the aid (46.9 per cent), followed by Africa (20.4 per cent).

    He said: “Aid to Africa expanded gradually in an effort to fulfill the MDGs in a region concentrated with Least Developing Countries (LDCs).

    “KOICA’s project map covers about 8 states in Nigeria, Katsina, Gombe, Yola, Minna, Abuja, Kogi, Enugu and Ogun. Its focus sectors will cover Human resource development, Governance, Agriculture, Vocational Training and Education.

    “KOICA has also designed numerous courses for its members in Nigeria, including scholarships in various sectors of the economy.

    “KOICA is striving to increase aid impact to our developing partners by making the best use of its limited financial resources in areas where Korea has a comparative advantage.”

  • IFAD-assisted project creates 20,000 jobs

    The Community-Based Natural Resource Management Programme (CBNRMP) has so far created 20,000 jobs, according to National Programme Coordinator Mrs Irene Jumbo-Ibeakuzie.

    The programme, which is being financed with a loan from IFAD, is being implemented in the nine Niger Delta states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers.

    Making a presentation during the working visit of Dr Kanayo Nwanze, president of International fund for Agricultural Development IFAD) to Delta State, Mrs Jumbo-Ibeakuzie said the jobs were created in the rice, cassava, palm oil, fisheries and livestock value chains in addition to vocational schemes.

    According to her, 1,277 enterprises have been established by women and youths through the programme’s capacity building efforts, technical assistance, mentorship, starter-kit provision and service market linkage, leading to the creation of 20,000 jobs.

    “Success recorded by the programme also reflects in the overwhelming influx of women and as seen in the ownership of the various crops, livestock, fisheries and processing enterprises, to increase their income and improve their standard of living.’’

    The programme, she said, also recorded “tremendous’’ increase in the production of commodities such as rice and cassava.

  • IFAD trains 54 on bee farming

    The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)-assisted agricultural development programme has trained 54 rural farmers in bee farming skills in Jigawa State.

    The Programme Officer, Alhaji Umar Abubakar, said in Dutse, the state capital that the beneficiaries were drawn from nine ] local government areas where IFAD operates.

    IFAD is a United Nation(UN) agency charged with enhancing rural agriculture, especially in developing countries.

    Abubakar said the local government areas include Dutse, Buji, Kiyawa, Garki, Gwiwa, Auyo, Birniwa, Taura and Guri.

    He said the bee farmers were taught new skills on bee-keeping and beehive construction and setting.

    Abubakar said the new skills imparted on the farmers would stimulate socio-economic well-being of the beneficiaries as well as generate revenue for the state.