The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) have signed a landmark $1.5 billion framework co-financing agreement to strengthen their 30-year collaboration in supporting the poorest people in their common member states worldwide.
According to a statement copied to APA on Tuesday, IDB President Ahmad Mohamed Ali and IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze reached the agreement in Rome, Italy, on the eve of the World Summit on Food Security (16-18 November).
As sustained investment in agriculture – especially smallholder agriculture – is acknowledged as the key to food security, the two institutions will jointly finance priority projects in most of the 52 common member countries under their respective three-year lending programs for 2010-2012.
The two institutions hope that this co-financing arrangement will attract additional funding from other development partners for joint interventions.
With their shared objectives in the field of agriculture and rural development, IFAD and IDB will focus their efforts on increasing productivity, yields, processing capacities and access to markets.
Microfinance, combined with capacity-building and technology transfer, will enable hundreds of thousands of project beneficiaries to undertake a multitude of micro-enterprises and income-generating activities.
The institutions are further committed to working together to improve rural infrastructure, promote local economic development and enhance food security.
Source African Press Agency
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