Govt Secures US$36m To Boost Smallholder Farmers
The Government has secured a US$36 million loan from the International Funds for Agriculture Development (IFAD) to boost funding for smallholder farmers.
Addressing parliamentarians recently, Finance and Economic Development deputy minister Clemence Chiduwa said the funds shall benefit poor smallholder farmers.
He said the project would be implemented in five of Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces: namely Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Midlands and Matabeleland North. Said Chiduwa:
The Smallholder Agriculture Cluster Project (SACP) increases agricultural production and productivity, especially by smallholder farmers which enhances food and nutrition security, income, increased opportunities for value addition and the development of agro-business value chains.
… To support the programme, the government negotiated and signed a US$35,7 million loan with IFAD on 17 May 2021 for the Smallholder Agriculture Cluster Project.
The loan will be utilised for sustainable smallholder irrigation development, climate-smart agriculture and market access, promotion of COVID-sensitive production and productivity enhancement, increasing the availability of diverse and nutritious foods for household consumption, improvement of knowledge, attitudes and practices on healthy eating habits and caregiving practices and improvement of the performance of selected nutrition-sensitive IFAD investments.
