IFC READY TO FUND AGRIC PROJECTS IN LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES

By NBF News

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has asked for proposals from private firms and financial institutions seeking funds for agricultural projects in low-income countries.

In a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday, the IFC said the initiative was developed under the private sector window of the G20 Food Initiative of the IFC, a member of the World Bank group.

The statement said that the global agriculture and food security programme was a multilateral mechanism to assist in implementation of 22 billion dollars pledges made by the G8 and G20 in 2009 to strengthen food security in low-income countries.

It said that the programme channelled donor funds to support public and private initiatives developed by client countries to improve productivity, competitiveness, and governance in their agribusiness sectors.

'The private sector window of the programme was established to manage funds allocated for private initiatives in the agriculture sector of low-income countries,'' the statement said.

IFC also said that this was the first effort to identify opportunities to supply financing for investment and advisory programmes for small farmers.