The International Fund for Agricultural Development and Guinea on Monday inked a 97.1 million dollar financial accord to help more than 65,000 rural households raise their incomes, boost their food security and respond better to climate change, IFAD said in a statement.
The project centres on 15 prefectures in the Upper and Middle Guinea regions, which are the poorest and most vulnerable in the country and will focus especially on women and young people. It aims to sustainably increase family farm production as well as resilience to external shocks such as climate change, said IFAD.
Better water management and training for farmers in improved and resilient cropping techniques are key elements of the project, which will also strengthen rural grassroots organisations and associations, create jobs, and improve farm families’ nutritional status, IFAD said.
The project will build or access to markets, restore 600 kilometres of rural roads and install 46 management and maintenance structures to help farmers sells their production surpluses, IFAD stated.
Twenty-one public-private partnerships for sustainable market management will be set up and 2,000 rural enterprises will receive technical and financial support, IFAD added.
A total 17.6 percent of Guinea's population is food-insecure and the government has decided to make the country's under-developed agriculture sector a priority and to boost its investment in the sector, almost doubling the 7.3 percent of its budget currently allocated to agriculture.
The total cost of the IFAD project is 97.1 million dollars, including a 15.5 million dollar loan and 15.5 million dollar debt sustainability framework grant from IFAD, the UN agency said.
The project will be co-financed by the OPEC Fund for International Development (15 million dollars), the Belgian Fund for Food Security (5 million dollars), the Government of Guinea (11 million dollars) and by the beneficiaries themselves (4.3 million dollars).
The 30.9 million dollar funding shortfall will be covered from future IFAD financing rounds or by potential co-financing partners, IFAD stated.
Guinea was hard hit by the deadly Ebola crisis between February 2014 and June 2016. The mining industry accounts for 90 percent of exports but provides few jobs, employing less than 2.5 per cent of the active population. It also carries significant social and environmental risks, a situation that prompted the government's decision to ratchet up investment in agriculture.
In Guinea, 80 percent of the country’s poor live in rural areas - where 60 percent of the population is located. Despite favourable soil and weather conditions, only 25 per cent of potential arable land is under cultivation. The agriculture sector consists mainly of family farms focusing on food crops, rice, maize, tubers and palm oil, but cannot meet the country's growing demand for food.
IFAD has financed 14 rural development programmes and projects in Guinea since 1980 at a total cost of 469.6 million dollars - to the direct benefit of 651,450 rural households.
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