The African Development Bank and the government of Togo have signed financing agreements worth a total of $38.9 million (approximately FCFA 22.44 billion) to support the development of climate-resilient infrastructure for farmers in the country's Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones.
The agreements were signed during the African Development Bank Group's Annual Meetings by Essowè Georges Barcola, Togolese Minister of Economy and Finance, and Nnenna Nwabufo, the Bank's Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery.
The financing includes a $29 million (FCFA 16.73 billion) grant from the Green Climate Fund, administered by the Bank, and a $9.9 million (FCFA 5.71 billion) loan from the Bank itself. This funding marks a new milestone in the strong partnership between Togo and the African Development Bank Group, one of the country's key strategic allies.
"The success of this Green Climate Fund project reflects the shared commitment of Togo and the African Development Bank to promote inclusive and sustainable growth through climate-resilient agriculture, in line with the Togo 2025 Government Roadmap," said Barcola.
Nwabufo added: "We are delighted to sign these agreements. This is the first Green Climate Fund financing to support a Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone in Togo--and in Africa. It comes at the right time to scale up our support for agricultural transformation by leveraging renewable energy technologies."
To advance its "Feed Africa" priority, the African Development Bank is rolling out Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones to increase agricultural productivity, agro-industrial development, and market access. The supply of raw materials (seeds, inputs, etc.) to these zones depends largely on the output of smallholder farmers, who are particularly vulnerable to climate change.
The programme is designed to fund initiatives that reduce climate vulnerability and greenhouse gas emissions across agricultural value chains. It will also reinforce the sustainability of Togo's ongoing agri-food transformation project.
Project implementation will reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout agricultural value chains and enhance the climate resilience and adaptive capacity of farming communities. The programme will also support the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices and technologies by small-scale farmers, cooperatives, and producer associations--covering roughly 10,000 hectares of land.
The programme will develop 10,000 hectares of agroforestry to sequester carbon and improve climate information services (establishment and expansion of a network of agrometeorological and rainfall stations, use of technology to enhance climate information services and early warning systems, etc.).
The programme complements other actions promoting gender equality and will enable women to benefit from innovative small-scale irrigation techniques and establish links between farmers and cooperative processing businesses. It will give them access to climate information services, early warning systems and low-carbon drying, processing and packaging technology.
