The Ivorian government and African Development Bank Group (AfDB) announced the financing in Bouaké during a monitoring mission held from September 14 to September 24.
The package includes a $6.87 million loan from the African Development Fund, the AfDB concessional financing arm.
The Climate Investment Funds’ Forest Investment Programme will provide a $12.6 million loan and a $1.9 million grant. The Ivorian government will contribute $2.7 million.
The financing will support Côte d’Ivoire’s component of the Integrated Programme for Development and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Niger Basin, known as PIDACC-BN.
The new phase will operate in the Gbêkê, Bélier, Iffou, Moronou and N’Zi regions, directly benefiting about 30 000 people, including women and young people.
Planned activities include producing more than 7 million forest seedlings, establishing 6 000 hectares of agroforestry systems and restoring nearly 3 300 hectares of forest plantations.
The programme will also support livestock farming, market gardening and agricultural processing. “We have the funding. We have the partners. We have the technical expertise. Above all, we have communities expecting results,” Côte d’Ivoire Water and Forests Ministry Chief of Staff Elvire Joëlle Zouzou said.
“It is now up to us to turn these resources into sustainable results.”
During the monitoring mission, 100 tricycles were provided to seedling-production groups and 23 motorbikes were handed to rural extension workers to strengthen operations.
PIDACC-BN was launched in 2018 to restore degraded ecosystems, improve climate resilience and promote sustainable natural-resource management across the Niger Basin.
In Côte d’Ivoire, the programme operates in the Niger River national sub-basin and central regions, directly or indirectly benefiting more than 1.8 million people.
“The encouraging results achieved to date demonstrate that well-targeted investments can restore ecosystems, strengthen the resilience of populations and pave the way for sustainable development for the benefit of communities,” AfDB Chief Programme Officer for West Africa Tandina Abdoulaye said.
The AfDB said the programme supported Côte d’Ivoire’s National Development Plan and the Bank’s 2024-2033 Ten-Year Strategy.
–AfDB/ChannelAfrica–
