The Norwegian government yesterday signed a US $3m with the UN World Food Program (WFP). The funds are meant to go towards Farm to Market Alliance (FtMA). FtMA is an initiative aimed at affording smallholder farmers to access farm inputs, finance and markets for their produce.
The Norwegian Minister for International Development Nikolai Astrup signed the agreement on behalf of the Norwegian government, while UN WFP Country Director Michael Dunford signed on behalf of WFP.
Minister Astrup said that his government was pleased to support an initiative aimed at affording smallholder farmers to access farm inputs and market for their agricultural produce in the country. He further thanked the government of Tanzania for its commitment to supporting the agricultural sector.
On the other hand, the UN WFP country director thanked the Norwegian government for the support to help smallholder farmers to work closer to buyers of their produce and access farm inputs.
Tanzanian Deputy Minister for Agriculture Omar Mgumba, who noted that the government recognizes the role played by development partners in supporting the agricultural sector in the country.
FtMA was established in 2015 by eight public and private organisations, including Yara International ASA, Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Bayer Crop Science, Grow Africa, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Syngenta, Rabobank and UN World Food Program.
Yara Country Manager William Ngeno said the financial support was significant in the lives of smallholder farmers, saying Yara was pleased to be part of the Farm to Market Alliance initiative. “Yara International ASA, as leading providers of sustainable crop nutrition solutions and supporting farmers profitably, are happy to be part of the FtMA initiative to uplift the lives of smallholder farmers,” Mr Ngeno said.
