IDB moves to ensure food security in Africa

7 August 2012. The Islamic Development Bank has approved finances worth $ 275 million for a number of agricultural and water projects in some member countries in Africa as part of its efforts to ensure food security and boost development.

Ahmed Mohamed Ali, president of the bank, said: “The amount is allocated exclusively for the development of agriculture, livestock and water supplies in the rural areas of Cameroon, Chad, Uganda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Togo.

1. An important intervention of the five-year Special Program for the Development of Africa (SPDA) is in improving crop productivity of small farms in Sub-Saharan Africa, under which IDB provided $ 58.5 million for improvement of crop cultivation in small farms in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameron, Mali and Niger.
2. The bank also approved $ 52.4 million for a livestock and fisheries project in the northwestern region of Cameroon. It gave $ 40 million for the rice value chain development project in the plain of Chari-Lagone in Chad.
3. Other recent IDB financing to support the agriculture sector include: $ 30 million for increased rice production in Uganda, $ 47.2 million for Dhar rural water supply project in Mauritania, $ 21 million for phase two of the integrated rural development project in the District of Kita, $ 2 million for the Millennium Villages Program in Mali and $ 12 million for a rural water supply project in Togo.