WASHINGTON, April 25, 2013 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved two International Development Association (IDA)* credits totaling US$150 million to boost the Government of Mozambique’s efforts to improve the performance of commercial agriculture and smallholder farmers, while also improving people’s food and nutrition security.
The first US$50 million credit will support the government’s First Agriculture Development Policy Operation (AgDPO-1), the first of three operations designed to promote private sector-led agriculture in order to improve access to food and better nutrition.
“Agriculture offers Mozambique an immediate opportunity to foster balanced economic and social development in the country even as it expands its mining and gas industries,” says Laurence C. Clarke, World Bank Country Director for Mozambique. “This new project focuses on providing opportunity to Mozambique’s growing ranks of farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs in a way that will generate higher incomes for farmers while also improving nutrition for the country’s rural population.”
The second credit of $100 million will support the government’s Integrated Growth Poles Project designed to improve the performance of enterprises and small farming landholders in Mozambique’s Zambezi Valley and Nacala Corridor. Both of these areas are identified as having high growth potential.
The project will raise employment and agricultural sales and help fund a variety of activities such as upgrading feeder roads, increasing privately executed public investments, and linking small farmers to emerging supply chains.
"The Integrated Growth Poles Project is an innovative approach to leverage private sector investments and implementation capacity and to establish business linkages between large investors and smallholder farmers and SMEs,” said Gaiv Tata, World Bank Director for Financial and Private Sector Development in the Africa Region. "It will assist Mozambique in its efforts to expand employment, raise household incomes and enhance skills and capacity."
* The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing loans (called “credits”) and grants for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 81 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change for 2.5 billion people living on less than $2 a day. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 108 countries. Annual commitments have increased steadily and averaged about $15 billion over the last three years, with about 50 percent of commitments going to Africa.
