The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies investing in the regional member countries (RMC). Its mission is to fight poverty and improve living conditions on the continent through promoting the investment of public and private capital in projects and programmes that are likely to contribute to the economic and social development of the region.
Speaking at the ongoing GAFSP portfolio reviews workshop at the SDKJ International Conference Centre on Tuesday, Phillip Boahen, lead partnership and coordination for AfDB, made the disclosure to the Agriculture Minister Demba Sabally on Monday.
“Yesterday, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank approved US$12 million additional finance from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP),” he unveiled.
This additional finance project, he said, has been designed with the overall objective (PDO) to increase food and nutritional security, as well as household income, particularly for the vulnerable households in five administrative regions including Central River, Lower River (LRR), Upper River (URR), North Bank (NBR) and West Coast Regions (WCR) through the strengthening of the sustainable Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) Programme.
“The AfDB remains committed to the food and nutrition security objectives of the Government of The Gambia, as evidenced in the Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts, a by-product of the High-Level Summit in Dakar on building resilience and achieving food sovereignty,” he said.
He added that the partnership between the Bank and the GASFP is a very important one, noting it offers countries across the African Continent access to the much-needed resources to transform agriculture.
Over the past years, GAFSP with funding from AfDB has implemented several projects in The Gambia, ranging from climate-resilient water systems to women's vegetable gardens to providing technical support, certified seeds, and training via farmer field schools.
These efforts have benefited thousands of women and smallholder farmers, enabling year-round vegetable production, promoting climate-resilient farming practices, and bolstering poultry production with minimal inputs.
In that regard, Mr. Boahen said the Bank would continue to explore ways of attracting additional financing to support Government's efforts.
