The Global Agriculture and Food Security Fund (GAFSP) Steering Committee (SC) approved, Wednesday November 3rd 2010 in Washington D.C., an allocation of grants to three countries for a total of $97 million. The selected countries were: Ethiopia ($51.5 million), Niger ($33 million) and Mongolia ($12.5 million). For Ethiopia, the implementation will be done by African Development Bank (AfDB) and for Niger, by the AfDB and World Bank.
AfDB was represented at the Steering Committee Meeting by Mr. Aly Abou-Sabaa, OSAN Director. Country allocation was based on the recommendations of an independent external Technical Advisory Committee that reviewed all proposals received. The summary of the allocations to the two African countries are as follows:
· Ethiopia: US$ 51.5 million (implemented through the World Bank and the African Development Bank): Support to the Agricultural Growth Program that aims to sustainably increase rural incomes and national food and nutrition security, particularly by developing the untapped potential of well-endowed areas.
· Niger US$ 33 million (implemented through the African Development Bank) will contribute to poverty alleviation by sustainably increasing the availability of agricultural products through water harnessing, and the development of small scale irrigation in the particularly vulnerable regions of Maradi, Zinder and Tahoua.
