The new regional office, opened in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, will now assist 22 countries in the Southern and Eastern Africa region, including Mozambique.
The main objective of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in opening the new office is to help reduce hunger and poverty by supporting smallholder farmers in the two regions of the African continent.
"The opening of the regional office is a key milestone in IFAD's decentralization process, which aims to build on the achievements already made over the past 40 years," Guoqi Wu, associate vice president of the Fund, said at the opening ceremony, according to a press release.
According to Guogi Wu, the strengthening of IFAD's presence in the two African regions "represents a demonstration of commitment to reaching the most marginalized."
The institution's press release points out that in Southern and Eastern Africa, agriculture is the largest sector, employing 65% of the workforce and accounting for more than 30% of the region's GDP.
"Corn, wheat, rice, potatoes and cassava are the main agricultural products of the trade generating an estimated annual revenue of $50 billion. Unfortunately, there has been a decline in agricultural production triggered by shocks such as climate change, Covid-19 and conflict," the note highlights.
Sara Mbago-Bhunu, IFAD's Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, pointed out that regional representation "will make it easier for the Fund to catalyze public and private investments in agriculture to benefit rural communities and businesses in the 22 countries" covered.
"This will not only help position IFAD as a leader in food systems transformation, but will also allow the institution to scale up new and innovative approaches," he added.
The 22 countries that will be covered by the new regional representation are Mozambique, Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. "Today, the region has 50 IFAD-supported projects and programs underway, valued at $4.2 billion, spread across 17 countries," the document concludes.
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