Northern Agro-Industrial Pole Project (2PAI-Nord) in Côte d’Ivoire is receiving a $60 million loan from the OPEC Fund for International Development to help fund the development of high-potential geographical areas known as agricultural growth poles or Agropoles.
In order to increase the export of highly competitive agricultural products and decrease reliance on food imports, the 2PAI-Nord project, which is being co-financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), is essential.
According to Côte d’Ivoire’s National Development Plan, 2PAI-Nord is the second of nine integrated agricultural development poles. Nearly 400,000 people, especially women and young people, will gain access to food and markets thanks to this initiative, which will help support 65,000 vulnerable family-farming households. Two-thirds of households in Côte d’Ivoire rely on agriculture for their income, and the sector contributes more than 20% to GDP. As an added bonus, up to 1.2 million people in neighboring regions will reap the benefits of improved transportation and social services thanks to these investments.
“Côte d’Ivoire’s medium-to-long-term agricultural development strategy will help realize the sector’s potential, reducing imports and increasing exports,” said Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, Director-General of the OPEC Fund. Many areas will see improved quality of life as a result of rising prosperity. The government of Côte d’Ivoire has asked for our help, and we are happy to provide it in conjunction with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to improve the country’s food security.
Two, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for combating poverty (SDG 1), hunger (SDG 2), inequality (SDG 5), and climate change (SDG 10) will be advanced thanks to PAI-NORD (SDG 13). Côte d’Ivoire is the world leader in cocoa production and a major exporter of raw cashew nuts, but the country also relies heavily on agricultural imports and does very little processing of its own agricultural products.
In the four northern provinces of Bagoué, Hambol, Poro, and Tchologo, 2 PAI-Nord aims to support and increase the mobilization of private investment, particularly in processing agricultural products like rice, meat and fish, cashews, mango, and shea, and facilitate farmers’ access to markets, thereby decreasing reliance on agricultural imports.
