US AND NORWAY WILL LAUNCH AFRICA AGRICULTURE FUND AND COMMIT $70 MLN
The United States and Norway will pledge a total of $70 million on Monday to launch a fund, reported here for the first time, to help farmers and agricultural businesses in Africa, a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spokesperson said. Hunger has worsened in several regions of Africa, driven by armed conflict and extreme weather that scientists have linked to fossil fuel-driven climate change. The announcement, by USAID Administrator Samantha Power and Norwegian Minister of International Development Beathe Tvinnereim on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, comes as Russia and China vie with the United States and Europe to win over developing countries. USAID and Norway will each commit an initial $35 million. The fund has the potential to support 500 small- and medium-sized agricultural businesses, 1.5 million smallholder farmers and nearly 60,000 private sector jobs. The fund aims to spur hundreds of millions more dollars in commercial financing by reducing the risk of investing.
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