A joint initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) will boost agriculture value chains and enhance drought resilience in Nigeria, Somalia and Uganda.
The initiative is part of a broad coalition to boost collaboration between the two institutions in agriculture, water and sanitation. The combined active portfolio of both institutions in these sectors in Nigeria, Somalia and Uganda is worth US$1 billion, with several projects in the pipelines to expand their support.
Stronger ties between AfDB and IsDB will help ramp up agricultural production along important crop and livestock value chains while preventing and mitigating climate change induced droughts will help achieve the objectives of "Say No To Famine/Alliance to End Famine in Africa."
The investments are complemented with institutional capacity building to develop enabling environments for sustainable, green and inclusive growth. There is broad stakeholder agreement that collaborative and coordinated efforts are needed to swiftly deal with weather shocks that often have devastating consequences for the most vulnerable population.
"It is good to see this strong partnership between the African Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank further evolving, in terms of depth, breath, resource commitments, leverage and speed of delivery" says AfDB Vice-President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, Khaled Sherif.
VP Sherif recalled that the Presidents of the two institutions recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding that clearly outlines the way forward to strengthen the partnership.
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, AfDB President with Dr. Bandar Hajjar, IsDB President in July 2017 during the signing ceremony of the US $2bn partnership agreement between the two institutions at the AfDB headquarters in Abidjan.
"While the MOU is continent-wide and cross-sectoral, we jointly identified immediate synergies in the broader FEED Africa and Say No To Famine domain, which cover varying levels of short-term, medium-term and long-term interventions, to deliver even more efficiently and effectively to the benefit of communities in the three countries," VP Sherif added.
IsDB Vice President, Mansur Muhtar stated: "Indeed, there is much to gain from the collaboration between our organizations. It is here that we can utilize our respective competitive advantages best and maximize the utilization of available resources."
"This can be achieved in particular by avoiding duplication and concentrating the stipulated initiatives in support of our member countries in the identified sectors and areas that promise to be most impactful for local populations. We will also expand this partnership throughout the operationalization of upcoming initiatives by bringing in additional partners, especially the private sector," VP Muhtar added.
For example, in Nigeria the Plateau State Potato Value Chain Support Project of the AfDB and the planned IsDB's Agro Pastoral Development Project in Kano State will promote higher household incomes through productive agro-pastoral activities.
In Somalia, AfDB's Say No To Famine project approved earlier this year is providing emergency assistance support and facilitating drought resilience building through the restoration of community assets which is complemented by IsDB's ongoing Drylands Development Project.
Both at appraisal stages and a prime example of parallel co-financing, IsDB's Irrigation Development Project and AfDB's Agriculture Value Chain Development Programme showcase their commitment to help Ugandans benefit from the tremendous business opportunities that exist in agriculture, from the primary sector through manufacturing to agriculture produce-related services in collaboration with the government.
Discussions are also ongoing to scale up several projects, among them, the Strategic Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Project in Uganda, which will be appraised later this year and presented to the AfDB Board of Directors for approval in early 2018.
