ETHIOPIA is set to receive a grant funding of $84.3 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to bolster wheat production and elevate farmers’ incomes. The grant agreement for Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Wheat Value Chain Development Project (CREW) was signed by Ethiopia’s Finance Minister Ahmed Shide and AfDB Deputy Director General for East Africa, Abdul Kamara.
The grant encompasses contributions from various sources, including $54 million from the African Development Fund, $20 million from the government of the Netherlands, $10 million from agribusiness firm OCP Africa, and $300,000 from the Global Centre on Adaptation. The Ethiopian government will also contribute $10 million in counterpart funding for the project.
The CREW project is structured around three main components: Climate Smart Wheat Productivity and Production, Market Infrastructure, Linkages, and Agri-Finance, and Project Coordination and Management. The project is designed to scale up and sustain the successful results of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) initiative that aims to enhance the country’s wheat self-sufficiency initiatives over a five-year period. The project is expected to benefit around 500,000 small-scale farmer households, ultimately contributing to food security and the stabilization of wheat production.
Abdul Kamara emphasised the significance of the CREW project during the signing ceremony held in Addis Ababa saying, ‘The CREW Project will ensure that farmers in Ethiopia can access agricultural inputs to raise local production of wheat such that supply disruptions resulting from the Russia—Ukraine crisis do not worsen the food security situation already made precarious by Covid-19, climate change and rising cost of living. It also seeks to sustain Ethiopia’s exemplary strides in attaining wheat self-sufficiency and export orientation, a model that other African countries should emulate.’
He added: ‘The signing of this grant demonstrates the Bank’s unwavering commitment to supporting Ethiopia and its people, and further reaffirms the partnership between the Bank and the government towards achieving Ethiopia’s vision of becoming a lower middle-income country by 2025.
Ethiopia, the second-largest wheat producer in sub-Saharan Africa, is determined to become self-sufficient and a net exporter of wheat by 2025/26. The country has set a target of producing an additional 4.2 million tonnes of irrigated wheat using proven technologies and innovations, including those introduced by the TAAT initiative.
The grant’s signing underscores the strong partnership between the AfDB and the Ethiopian government. The project’s implementation aligns with Ethiopia’s broader vision of achieving lower middle-income status by 2025.