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World Bank Extends $200M Grant To Boost Agriculture In Rwanda

World Bank Extends $200M Grant To Boost Agriculture In Rwanda

From APA via StarAfrica

Rwanda’s Minister for Finance and Economic planning, Claver Gatete on Tuesday signed a grant financing agreement with the World Bank for a 200 million US dollars to support various agriculture commercialization projects as part of national efforts to boost economic growth and address poverty reduction in the Central African nation.

Official statistics show that agriculture is Rwanda’s economic mainstay, contributing 40 percent of the country’s 5.1 billion dollar gross domestic product. Moreover, at least 60 percent of the country’s population lives below the poverty line and 90 percent of the land is mostly comprised of small holdings.

The three-year project is dedicated to improve food production in the country, whereby the funding will especially dedicate to developing value chains in building capacity in some districts of Rwanda with the highest levels of poverty and food insecurity.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, the World Bank Country Manager for Rwanda, Carolyn Turk said the funding will support various projects that aim at increasing the commercialization of farm and agribusiness products by improving the performance of selected value chains and strengthening productive partnerships through increased access to finance and training.

It would also build the government’s capacity for policy and regulatory reforms and support market research and analysis, and strengthen modernization in the area such as commercial agribusiness, he said.

Read more at StarAfrica