The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a budget grant of 11.7 million dollars for the African Fertilizer Finance Facility (AFFM) for its 2023 operations.

The approval, on 16 May, increases the fund allocated to the program to a total of 16.4 million dollars, with 4.7 million dollars of the money carried over from the previous year, writes a source verified by MZNews.

The AFFM will facilitate small farmers' access to inputs and extension services through credit guarantee projects and capacity building for farmers and input distributors.

It said it would continue to work with the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) on initiatives to improve fertilizer production, trade and use, launched in 2021.

In addition, the program should carry out a detailed analysis of fertilizer policy in at least ten African countries, which will make it possible to map the current situation, identify gaps and prepare an action plan.

The aim is to support policy guidelines that address the shortcomings identified.

The AfDB also approved this year's activity plan, which includes strengthening the fertilizer sector through access to finance, supporting the development of sustainable policy reforms to improve fertilizer production, trade and use, and facilitating access to inputs and technical assistance for small farmers.

The AFFM plans to continue implementing three trade credit guarantee projects worth 8.3 million dollars in the beneficiary countries, including Zimbabwe (4.3 million dollars), Côte d'Ivoire (2 million dollars) and Ghana (2 million dollars).

Later this year, the mechanism intends to implement commercial credit guarantee strategies worth 9.7 million dollars in Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Kenya.

The African Fertilizer Finance Facility is a special African Union fund launched in 2006 that aims to improve agricultural productivity through the provision of fertilizers. It is hosted and managed by the African Development Bank. The AFFM has a strategic plan for the period 2022 - 2028.