WASHINGTON, March 22, 2017—The World Bank approved today an additional credit of $75 million to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for the Agriculture Rehabilitation and Recovery Support Project. The new financing will increase agricultural productivity and improve marketing of crops, and animal products in targeted areas to broaden the scope of project beneficiaries. It will also expand to two additional territories, Libenge and Bongandanga.
“This new financing will provide direct socio-economic benefits to more than 185,000 agricultural households, and to a number of other actors involved in the agriculture sector, thereby contributing to DRC’s national socio-economic welfare,” said Nora Kaoues, World Bank Task Team Leader of the project.
Agriculture and other sectors in DRC are hampered by the fact that the country is recovering from more than 15 years of civil war, which has created serious infrastructure and institutional vacuums. The country faces systematic challenges in its business environment and enabling services such as rural connectivity, power infrastructure, and extension systems.
The Government’s objective is to reduce rural poverty by 2020 by restoring and modernizing agricultural production systems, improving nutrition and food security, and mobilizing significant public and private sector investments. The additional financing will add activities to address cross-cutting issues such as nutrition-sensitive activities, climate smart agriculture, gender, and job creation.
The proposed additional financing project is aligned with the Country Assistance Strategy for DRC as it aims at contributing significantly to the Government’s efforts to alleviate extreme poverty and malnutrition - end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. It is also consistent with major strategic initiatives for DRC, the Great Lakes region, and sub-Saharan Africa, including the second pillar (vulnerability and resilience) of the World Bank’s Africa Strategy and Africa Climate Business Plan.
