The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional window of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, approved a $22.7 million grant to Malawi on Monday May 15 in the Ivorian capital Abidjan, reports an AfDB press release.
According to the information provided in the document, the sector budget support operation will be used to implement the Agricultural Productivity and Marketing Program, a project to reform the agricultural sector and strengthen resilience in the face of climate change.
The Agricultural Productivity and Marketing Program is designed to catalyze economic growth and ensure food security in Malawi.
It also aims to optimize efficiency, transparency and accountability in agricultural sector spending, as well as strengthen disaster preparedness and climate resilience measures.
At a time when Malawi is regularly confronted with extreme climatic events (floods, rain shortages, droughts and cyclones), the funds will support the development of a registration module and the deployment of a national agricultural management information system.
Targeted reforms include the improvement of public financial management systems, particularly with regard to contracts in the agricultural sector.
According to Macmillan Anyanwu, AfDB Country Manager for Malawi, « this budget support operation is timely, as it comes at a time when Malawi is facing unprecedented macroeconomic challenges ».
His institution encourages « the government to ensure effective implementation of the program to help overcome some of the major constraints to agricultural commercialization and productivity ».
The initiative is strategically aligned with efforts to stimulate private sector investment in agriculture, thereby boosting productivity, value added and export capacity within specific value chains.
The Ministries of Finance and Economic Affairs and Agriculture will implement the program, knowing that the expected benefits extend to private sector entities, particularly those in the agricultural sector, and to the people of Malawi. #OMA #OrganisationMarocAfrikaCulturesetDéveloppement #NajibKettani #Economy #Malawi #FAD #Agriculture #Livestock #ClimateChange
