The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group have approved a comprehensive financing package worth $93.6 million to combat severe food insecurity in Sudan's most fragile regions.

The intervention will directly benefit 265,000 smallholder farmer households in the Gezira, Kassala, Northern, and River Nile states -- impacting approximately 1.6 million people, of which 20% are expected to be women and 30% youth.

The funding, which will go to support the Sudan Emergency Wheat Production Project II, comprises $46.8 million in grants from the African Development Fund, the Bank Group's concessional window, and grants of $45.5 million and $1.3 million respectively from Pillar 1 and Pillar 3 of the Fund's Transition Support Facility. The facility plays a crucial role in assisting countries address fragility and build resilience through peace-positive interventions in close coordination with partners across the humanitarian, development and peace nexus.

In this case, the World Food Programme will implement the project.

Building on the success of SEWPP I, which increased wheat productivity by nearly 70% in target areas, the second phase will entail providing farmers with climate-resilient wheat seeds and fertilizers, as well as avenues for engagement with the private sector. The project also includes support for post-harvest processing as well as project management and oversight.

Through a climate smart approach, drought-tolerant wheat varieties and solar-powered irrigation, yields are expected to increase from the current 2.1- 2.5 tons per hectare, to as much as 4 tons per hectare.