| Approval Date | 14 Jul 2022 |
| Signature Date | 20 Oct 2022 |
| Planned Completion Date | 01 Aug 2023 |
| Last Disbursement Planned Date | 31 Mar 2023 |
| Sovereign / Non-Sovereign | Sovereign |
| Sector | Agriculture and Rural Development |
| DAC Sector Code | 31110 |
| Environmental Category | 3 |
| Commitment | U.A 30,056,205.1 |
| Status | Approved |
The proposed operation is for an ADB loan of USD 40 million (United States forty million) to the Kingdom of Eswatini to finance the African Emergency Food Production Facility (AEFPF). The AEPF Program is designed as a single tranche crisis response budget support targeting the agriculture sector for the FY2022/23. The Program is aligned to the Government’s priorities as outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP, 2019-22), which prioritizes agricultural development as key to economic growth, recovery, poverty reduction, and social wellbeing. The Program complements the Bank’s interventions in Eswatini. The Lower Usuthu Small-holder Irrigation Project (LUSIP I) and LUSIP II aim to reduce poverty through increased household incomes and enhanced food security by creating the conditions for the transformation of subsistence smallholder farmers into small-scale commercial farmers.
The program’s purpose is to boost Eswatini’s agricultural production and productivity so as build the resilience of food systems and mitigate risks to food supply in the short to medium term. Its operational policy objectives and Pillars are:(i) Scaling-up food production and reducing vulnerability of the poor to high and unstable food prices;(ii) Enhance delivery of agro-commodity financing (supply of fertilizer and seeds to smallholder farmers); and (iii) Ensure an enabling environment for sustainable agricultural growth through sustaining economic and governance reforms.
The program beneficiaries include the people of Eswatini in particular the poor and vulnerable, who will benefit from the safeguarding of food supplies at affordable prices. Under the input subsidy scheme,20,000 smallholder farmers will benefit up from the current 13,000. Farmers and people in rural communities are bound to be positively impacted. The private sector will also benefit from a more conducive business enabling environment. Ultimately, the program will result in enhanced social protection and increased food security. High sustained and inclusive growth is the ultimate benefit which are positive outcomes for the population as whole.
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Implementing
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE - CO-OPERATIVES
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Funding
African Development Bank
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| IATI identifier | 46002-P-SZ-AA0-013 |
| Last Update | 25 Mar 2023 |
| Name | Pumla Adelaide MAJIKIJA |
| p.majikija@afdb.org |