The Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism (AFFM) has welcomed $10.15 million in new funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). The financing will target projects in Uganda, Kenya, and Mozambique, which will be receiving AFFM support for the first time.
NORAD’s contribution will enable the AFFM to provide credit guarantees for up to 36 months, with the expected leverage of at least ten times the credit guarantee amount, enabling access to at least 85,000 mt of fertilizer for 850,000 smallholder farmers in the three countries.
The NORAD contribution will buttress the African Emergency Food Production Facility, the African Development Bank Group’s (ADBG) rapid response initiative for addressing Africa’s current food crisis, which has been exacerbated by climate change, conflicts, pests, and disease.
The increase in fertilizer prices has deepened the shortfall in fertilizer supply, lowered accessibility, and threatened agricultural production across Africa, according to the ADBG, which said that when the continent’s smallholder farmers have timely access to quality fertilizers, it is possible to double agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers.