WASHINGTON, May 22, 2014—The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a zero-interest grant in the amount of US$10.2 million dollars to support the Government of Chad’s effort to promote the meat and dairy sectors through improved infrastructure as well as strengthening the country’s business environment and competitiveness.
“Agriculture is the country’s top promising non-oil sectors for job creation, revenue generation and poverty reduction as it is the second greatest source of export earnings in Chad,” said Paul Noumba Um, the World Bank Country Director for Chad. The meat and dairy sub-sectors have considerable potential to become major engines of growth, job creation, and poverty reduction.”
The International Development Association (IDA*) grant will fund the Value Chain Support project designed to improve business registration, cross-border trade and upgrade dairy and meat processing and conservation facilities. The project will also enhance the private sector capacity to supply the domestic market and to compete on regional and international markets. This will involve streamlining the business registration processes, implementing policy reforms to encourage live cattle exporters to invest in meat production and providing support to explore new markets for meat and dairy products. In addition, this project will health and sanitation standards for meat and dairy products.
One of the main benefits of the project will be the improvement of health and sanitation standards for meat and dairy products.
“The project will create incentives for the private sector to invest in these sectors by promoting value-added products, building capacity, strengthening SMEs, and improving the business environment”, said Adja Mansora Dahourou, the World Bank Task Team Leader for the project. “Job creation is another beneficial impact expected from the project implementation. Direct and indirect jobs are expected to be created, which will contribute to fighting unemployment, and particularly youth unemployment.
The meat and dairy value chains’ stakeholders will directly benefit from an improved business environment, as business registration issues will be addressed. Constraints related to delays and cumbersome procedures in trading across borders will also be tackled through the implementation of the project to improve the value chains’ organization and competitiveness.
Additionally, as women represent the majority in the dairy subsector, it is expected that the project will help empower women, and therefore improve the livelihood of their families and communities.
Overall, the project will build on other ongoing projects that are improving production through research and expansion, such as the IDA-financed Agriculture Production Support Project (APSP) and other donors’ interventions in pastoralism and crop farming. It will also complement the IDA-financed regional interventions in pastoralism (Regional Pastoralism Support Project) and relevant projects that are part of the Sahel Initiative.
