NEPAD Business Foundation

As part of a responsible exit from our work in Agricultural Markets, we are supporting TransFarm Africa, a public-private partnership to promote agricultural development and food security in sub-Saharan Africa in ways that will measurably improve the income of smallholder farmers, most of whom are women. TransFarm Africa is made up of two components designed to work together-one is this recommendated grant, and the second will be on the November docket. With this grant, the Removing the Barriers program, run by the NEPAD Business Foundation, would develop the strategies and partnerships necessary to address policy obstacles and the lack of capacity and resources that inhibit agricultural development along Africa's infrastructure corridors. The program has been designed specifically to complement existing efforts in Africa, the United States, and Europe by bringing the voice, resources, and know-how of the business community to the promotion of agricultural development and food security. The geographic focus will be first on the Beira, Nacala, and Central Corridors in Mozambique, Rwanda, and Tanzania, and then throughout sub-Saharan Africa. This grant follows on a planning grant that was given last year and would enable the NEPAD Business Foundation to implement the program and receive matching funds from USAID. We also recommend the following grants to organizations that have been key partners for our AgM component over the past several years. Because this work is concluding, these recommendations are tie-off grants.