The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has partnered with OCP Africa, a subsidiary of the OCP Group, to strengthen the rice sector in Côte d’Ivoire and millet in Senegal
According to the IFC statement, the corporation will provide advisory services to farmers and farmer groups that are members of OCP Africa’s Agribooster programme with the aim of benefiting nearly 12,000 Ivorian and Senegalese farmers by 2022.
The objective of this project is to strengthen the technical, financial and managerial skills of cooperatives and to improve agricultural practices by integrating smart climate change solutions for water and soil management. It also aims to accelerate the digitisation of payment systems in the two value chains and to develop a credit rating tool to improve farmers’ access to finance.
“We are very happy with this partnership with OCP Africa, a fervent contributor to the development of agriculture in Africa, which aims to promote more responsible and environmentally friendly agriculture,” said Xavier Reille, director of IFC for the Maghreb.
“This partnership concretises our vision of releasing the potential of African agriculture in a sustainable way through a holistic approach, involving major players in the value chain, for the benefit of small farmers,” indicated Mohamed Anouar Jamali, managing director of OCP Africa.
