AFRICA – The World Bank has granted CGIAR US$60 million to help advance agricultural research efforts for the benefit of rural households that rely on agriculture as a major livelihood source, and to increase food security.

CGIAR is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security.

The grant issued through World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) is aimed to help African countries strengthen the resilience of their agricultural sectors to the threat posed by climate change.

“Knowledge generation and technology transfer are deserving of IDA regional support, because the benefits flow across national boundaries and therefore are unlikely to be supported adequately by individual governments acting alone.

“CGIAR plays a unique catalytic role in strengthening global, regional and local capacity to combat the effects of climate change, in Africa and throughout the world,” said Ms. Deborah Wetzel, World Bank Director of Regional Integration for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Africa.

According to Africa Business Community, the grant fulfils the bank’s commitment at the 2019 United Nations Climate Summit to increase its support to the CGIAR, supporting research and capacity-building activities carried out by its centres and partner organizations under the new operation Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project.

The goal of the project is to enhance access to climate information services and validated climate-smart agriculture technologies in Africa.

By gaining better access to climate advisories linked to information about effective response measures, farmers and livestock keepers will be able to better anticipate climate-related events and take preventative actions that can help to safeguard productive activities and avoid catastrophic losses.

“CGIAR plays a unique catalytic role in strengthening global, regional and local capacity to combat the effects of climate change, in Africa and throughout the world.”

Ms. Deborah Wetzel – World Bank Director of Regional Integration for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Africa

AICCRA activities will be concentrated in six countries Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zambia – but its benefits will be realized region-wide.

It will be administered by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, the lead center for the CGIAR Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS).

Mobilizing science and innovation for the benefit of agricultural development is consistent with the commitments made during the Africa Food Security Leadership Dialogue (AFSLD).

AFSLD is a multi-partner initiative formed in 2019 to deal with the problem of hunger and vulnerability to climate change on the African continent.

The new project responds to the AFSLD call for joint action against hunger in the face of climate change, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has further increased the vulnerability of millions of households.

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