SIDA representative Henrik Riby, and President of
AGRA Jane Karuku formalized the agreement this week in a signing ceremony at
the African Green Revolution Forum held here in Arusha recently.
The grant, awarded by Sida, will be directly
channeled to the African Agribusiness Window of African Enterprise Challenge
Fund (AECF), a fund hosted by AGRA.
Administered by the AECF, the grant will enable
Africa-based entrepreneurs to submit new and innovative business solutions to
accelerate the development of the agricultural sector in Africa.
Between 10-12 winners will be selected and provided
with funding to develop their ideas into practical projects that are both
commercially viable and will have a broad developmental impact on the rural
poor.
The projects will have a significant focus on the
empowerment of women and environmental sustainability.
The grant is part of SIDA’s program area focused on
inclusive business and pro-poor economic growth, with investments that must
significantly contribute to poverty reduction and rural development.
The grant is expected to benefit at least an
additional 60,000 households (300,000 people) with extra income, employment,
market access and transfer of know-how.
“We know that a more effective and professional
agriculture sector can make a real difference for millions of people living in
poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, “said Henrik Riby, SIDA. “By sharing the
financial risks of private investments in agribusiness, we hope to encourage
new sustainable ways of raising rural incomes.”
“The African Enterprise Challenge Fund is an
important contributor to AGRA’s goals and strategy, and its impact will be
enhanced with this grant from the Swedish International Development Cooperation
Agency,” said Jane Karuku adding that “These projects benefit millions of
Africa’s rural poor in very practical ways such as jobs, increased income,
knowledge transfer and market access.”
Sida, is a government agency under Sweden’s Ministry
for Foreign Affairs and its goal is to contribute to making it possible for
poor people to improve their living conditions where as
AGRA is an Africa based organization working in
partnership with governments, agricultural research organizations, farmers,
private sector, civil society and other rural development stakeholders to
significantly and sustainably improves the productivity and incomes of resource
poor farmers in Africa.
Ends.
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