As part of its transformative agenda for food security, income enhancement, job creation, and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Africa, the Agriculture Fast Track Fund (AFT), hosted by the African Development Bank, has announced $3.39million funding for 17 new Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture sector.
The funding, provided by the African Development Bank was announced in Accra, Ghana, recently, in support of SMEs in the agribusiness sector in eight African countries – Ghana (4), Tanzania (4), Burkina Faso (2), Malawi (2), Mozambique (2), Ethiopia (1), Nigeria (1) and Senegal (1).
Wil Ofori’s firm, Techiman Processing Complex Ltd (TEPCO), received a grant of US$160,000 for feasibility studies, marketing, as well as value chain/value addition studies.
Addressing newsmen, AFT Coordinator, Jonas Chianu, said the fund provided grants that enabled SMEs to conduct project preparation studies to eliminate barriers to take-off, thereby developing a pipeline of bankable projects.
“The fund finances the project development cost of a broad range of agriculture infrastructure, spanning the entire value chain from production to the market. Target projects range from rural feeder roads to irrigation, agro-processing and marketing facilities, and outgrower schemes,” Chianu said.
The AfDB’s Country Manager for Ghana, Yero Baldeh, noted that the development of agriculture and agribusiness lies at the heart of the bank’s priorities in Africa.
“Relatively low productivity, under-utilised agricultural land, infrastructural deficiency and lost opportunities for value addition have perpetuated poverty and food insecurity in the continent. The emerging wide-reaching food shortages have led to food crises and restiveness in many regions.