EBRD, IFAD to co-invest in agri

The two DFIs signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Washington last week.

The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have established an official collaboration on promoting investment into the agricultural sectors of countries of mutual interest.

The two development finance institutions signed a memorandum of understanding in Washington last week, committing to developing food security and the agribusiness sector’s value chain. The partnership is also committed to the promotion of climate-smart agriculture – IFAD recently announced that 100 percent of its agricultural investment portfolio would be committed to climate-smart projects by 2018.

The two financiers will focus on southern and eastern Mediterranean countries initially. They have partnered on agriculture policy before in the CEE region. Job creation will be a central focus of the cooperation.

Agribusiness is a priority sector for EBRD that recently pledged up to $1 billion in capital to Ukraine’s upstream agribusiness industry.

IFAD made a $34 million loan to finance climate-smart agriculture methods in Rwanda in April this year. Since 1978, it has provided over $16 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached more than 430 million people, according to the website.