With food insecurity on the rise in Africa, the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Afreximbank, and the World Food Programme (WFP) have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding to promote the commercial development of peasant agriculture and facilitate intra-regional agricultural trade initiatives, to advance climate change mitigation and adaptation of peasant agriculture and related value chains.
Under this protocol, $2 billion in agricultural loans and lines of credit for agro-processors and commodity traders will be disbursed by 2025 through Afreximbank's lending instruments and blended finance facilities in support of the AfCFTA agreement and as a contribution to food security on the continent.
Afreximbank will provide financing, loans, and guarantees, as well as support for industrial projects, including export-oriented agricultural clusters and Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
For its part, the WFP will support small-scale farmers, particularly through training and market access. The WFP will also purchase cereals, pulses, and food products with products from small-scale farmers for use in its food assistance programmes.
For its part, the AfCFTA Secretariat, in collaboration with the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and its member states, is committed to promoting simplified market access programmes and customs procedures for agricultural products in order to improve agricultural trade and food security, as well as the development of regional value chains based on agriculture.
Credit: commodafrica.com