from ARMANDO DOMINGOS in Maputo, Mozambique
Mozambique Bureau
MAPUTO, (CAJ News) – THE African Development Fund (ADF) has approved a US$5,6 million grant in additional funding to bolster food security and resilience in Mozambique.
This is under the aegis of Mozambique’s Post Cyclone Idai and Kenneth Emergency Recovery and Resilience Programme.
The additional funding is under the African Development Bank’s (AfDB’s) Emergency Food Production Facility, which aims to build the resilience of Mozambique’s food systems in response to the current global food crisis.
The war in Ukraine worsened the crisis.
The funds will be drawn from the African Development Fund, the AfDB’s concessional window.
The $5,6 million grant will help provide certified climate-adapted seeds, fertilizers, and extension services, facilitate modern inputs to farmers, and support policy reforms, including strengthening national institutions with laboratory equipment, overseeing input markets and agro-dealers’ associations.
AfDB in mid-2019 approved a $47 million post-cyclone recovery programme to help Mozambique restore livelihoods, rebuild its socio-economic infrastructure and boost agriculture production in Mozambique.
This followed a series of cyclones that killed scores of people and displaced thousands in Southern Africa.
Malawi and Zimbabwe were also affected.
– CAJ News