The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Wednesday announced a US$14M grant for South Sudan to boost food security, value addition and trade in the country.
Benedict Sorie Kanu, AfDB Country Manager in South Sudan, said the five-year project will be implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
“We have completed signing 14 million U.S. dollars aimed at supporting the agricultural markets, value addition and trade development projects for South Sudan,” Kanu told reporters in Juba.
Kanu said the project will create aggregation business opportunities for farmers and traders, including women and youth, and provide them with new skills and knowledge, and the agro-processing equipment they need to produce quality products.
He said the grant will boost the productivity and incomes of nearly 20,000 farming families in states of Central Equatoria, Jonglei, where formerly internally displaced persons have returned to their homelands.
