The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will offer personalised agricultural advice to 1.7 mn farmers in Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan to improve their income, food security and resilience to economic shocks
Mobile phone technology will help farmers receive low-cost, customised advice about the improvement of on-farm practices, input utilisation, pest and disease management, environmental sustainability and access to markets.
The initiative has received initial funding under IFAD’s Rural Poor Stimulus Facility (RPSF), as a result of a new partnership between IFAD and Precision Agriculture for Development, a global non-profit organisation co-founded by Nobel prize winner Michael Kremer.
Funds amounting to US$11.2mn from the RPSF, plus US$5.2mn from governments and implementing partners will benefit an estimated 6.7mn small-scale farmers in developing countries who are adversely impacted by the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic.
Two regionally focused initiatives in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa will provide emergency livelihood support through local farmers’ organisations in in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Nigeria, Palestine and Rwanda. The majority of these initiatives are embedded in their national COVID-19 response strategies. Farmers will be provided with seeds and fertiliser for the upcoming planting season, receive storage and market transport assistance, and be provided with credit by local banks.
The initiative also aims to establish digital platforms for information, training, banking and marketing services. Working through existing project teams and IFAD country offices, the initiatives will draw on existing targeting data to identify and provide assistance to the most at-risk groups.
