Wallace Ruzvidzo
Herald Reporter
SADC and the Food and Agriculture Organisation are seeking to mobilise US$2,1 billion for regional investment projects to transform agri-food systems in Southern Africa.
Irrigation, mechanisation, agro-processing and trade integration have been identified as the focus areas.
About US$600 million will be committed to irrigation development, US$300 million on mechanisation, US$400 million on agro-processing and US$800 million on trade facilitation.
In a communique yesterday, SADC said the pitch had been submitted during the FAO Hand-in-Hand (HiH) Investment forum held in Rome, which also serves as the annual global stage where countries and regions present their plans for financing and partnerships.
The overall summary of the investment pitches shows an average internal rate of return of 20 percent, income increase per capita of US$223 and a total potential coverage of 7,8 million direct beneficiaries and 42,4 million indirect beneficiaries.
“The Southern Africa pitches stressed on the opportunity to transform agrifood systems through targeted investment, the need for climate-smart, resilient irrigation and mechanisation, the scaling of agro-processing to capture more value locally and strengthening trade corridors/aggregation to expand markets (SADC integration).
“The next steps following the Forum include commitment follow-up dialogues between countries and interested investors/DFIs, formation of technical working groups to finalise project documentation and due diligence, and scheduling of regional follow-ups,” said the SADC.
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