Abidjan – The African Development Fund (ADF) has authorized a $9.44 million grant for the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) to strengthen the local weather resilience of rice worth chains throughout West Africa.
The Board of Directors of the ADF (http://apo-opa.co/4nUpfmv), the concessional funding window of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org), authorized the grant on 17 July 2025.
Funded by ADF’s Climate Action Window (http://apo-opa.co/4nVdlsD), the venture will help rice producers and processors in 13 nations: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
The initiative, a part of the Regional Resilient Rice Value Chains Development Project in West Africa (REWARD), and particularly its adaptation element (REWARD-Adaptation), goals to scale up the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices and applied sciences all through the rice manufacturing and processing sectors.
“The technique for this venture is to cut back the vulnerability and strengthen the resilience of rice worth chains, from manufacturing to processing and advertising and marketing, whereas decreasing greenhouse fuel emissions by the dissemination and adoption of climate-smart practices and applied sciences,” defined Marwan Ladki, Senior Irrigation Engineer on the African Development Bank.
Ladki, who’s liable for the venture, stated key venture interventions embody the distribution of climate-resilient rice seeds to 11 000 farmers, together with 4 950 girls and 6 600 younger farmers.
The venture will prepare 12 600 farmers and processors, help 65 small and medium-sized enterprises with tools and improved entry to enterprise networks.
In addition, the venture will facilitate the supply of local weather companies and early warning programs by digital platforms and radio broadcasts, reaching as much as two million beneficiaries.
The venture will even deploy 4 computerized climate stations per nation to enhance spatial protection and local weather monitoring.
It is projected to create 47 000 employment alternatives, together with 8 000 everlasting and 39 000 seasonal jobs.
