S02 AF March April 2021 Farming Calendar_Layout 1 16/03/2021 13:31 Page 4
NEWS
Farming Calendar 2021
AfDB and Central African Republic sign MoU for food security
APRIL 07-09
FOODAGRO Africa www.expogr.com/tanzania/food expo/
15-17
Agritech Expo Zambia www.agritech-expo.com
DAR ES SALAAM CHISAMBA
MAY 27-29
IDMA AND VICTAM EMEA https://idmavictam.com/
ISTANBUL
JUNE 07-09
Eurotier Middle east www.eurotiermiddleeast.com
16-18
Agritec Africa www.agritecafrica.com/
ABU DHABI NAIROBI
JULY 06-08
agrofood & plastprintpack Nigeria www.agrofood-nigeria.com/
LAGOS
Readers should verify dates and location with sponsoring organisations, as this information is sometimes subject to change.
THE CENTRAL AFRICAN Republic and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have signed two MoUs to fight against food insecurity in two prefectures in the centre-north of the country and finance the modernisation of Bangui airport. The Central African minister of economy, planning and cooperation, Félix Molou, and the country manager of AfDB, Mamady Souaré, initialed the protocols, which relate, on the one hand, to the project of support for the modernisation of the Bangui-Mpoko international airport, phase II (PAMAB II) and, on the other, to support resilience as well as food and nutritional security in the prefectures of Kemo and Ouaka (PARSANKO). PAMAB II, funded to the tune of US$11.44mn aims to consolidate the role of air transport in serving the Central African Republic through secure, safe, efficient airport services and quality, in accordance with international standards. This second phase completes PAMAB I and the Support Project for the National Civil Aviation Authority. The realisation of PARSANKO aims to support agro-pastoral production and community initiatives. For crop production, priority will be given to the maize, cassava, peanuts and paddy rice sectors. The focus will be on poultry, pork, goats and sheep for animal production.
THE SAHEL ALLIANCE organised its second general assembly in N'Djamena, Chad on 15 February 2021. The meeting took place on the side-lines of a summit for the G5 Sahel countries— Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad—as well as France. The African Development Bank (AfDB) played an active role in the formation in July 2017 of the Alliance, an international cooperation platform to spur development and stability in the Sahel region. To foster closer synergy with development partners, the Sahel Alliance has invited the AfDB to lead a working group on agriculture, rural development and food security. The Bank's extensive experience in the Sahel region in the management and control of water, agri-pastoral and fisheries development, as well as the sustainable management of natural resources, attracted it to the Sahel Alliance. The Bank’s current Sahel portfolio includes three crucial projects aimed at strengthening the resilience of ecosystems and populations and ensuring food security through investment in agriculture and livestock farming as well as sustainable management of natural resources. The Bank’s flagship Desert to Power solar initiative, valued at US$20bn will turn the Sahel region into the world’s largest solar zone giant solar zone with up to 10,000MW of solar generation capacity.
4 African Farming - March/April 2021
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Developing resilience and sustainable energy in the Sahel region
The aim is to ensure food security through investment in agriculture and livestock farming.
Eleven countries are beneficiaries of this initiative including Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Chad. P2RS, which is mobilising more than US$250mn for its first phase and US$750mn over 20 years, is contributing immensely to breaking the cycles of famine in the region. It also promotes the development of rural infrastructure and creates thousands of jobs for rural youth through
the development of regional value chains and markets. Another project that demonstrates the Bank's commitment to the region’s development is the ongoing implementation of the Programme for the Rehabilitation and Strengthening of the Resilience of Socio-Economic Systems in the Lake Chad Basin (PRESIBALT), which covers Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic and Nigeria.
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