Lives and Livelihood Fund Approves $99 Million for Africa Development Projects

Doha, May 30 (QNA) - The Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF), which Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) contributes to its financing, and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) have signed $99 million in finance with the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Senegal for the Sahel Sustainable Pastoralism Development Project, which aims to support regional food security and improve the livelihoods of one million people in the Sahel region of West Africa. The Sahel Sustainable Pastoralism Development project is the first cross-border development project for LLF, which has committed over $600 million to rural infrastructure, agriculture productivity and disease eradication projects over the past year in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The project will establish a regional framework to help provide smallholder farmers and pastoralists in the Sahel with better access to markets, with a focus on small ruminant and livestock production. It will increase the value of rural household farms, make nutrient-rich foods more affordable, and support animal health and production. Director General of QFFD, Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari said, "The Lives and Livelihoods Fund has already made vast progress in its mission to help the poorest people in the Muslim world live healthier, more productive lives through investments in health, agriculture, and basic infrastructure. We are pleased to work with the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Senegal, for the funds first cross-border development project. Millions of people living in the Sahel are in crucial need of economic development opportunities. This project will help create self-sustaining livelihoods for some of the most isolated communities." Maher Al Hadrawi, Assistant Supervisor General for Operations and Programs at King Salman Relief and Humanitarian Aid center and Chair of the LLF for its first year of operations, said that financing for the project is made possible by the funds innovative concessional finance framework, which blends ordinary finance from the IDB with LLF donor grants. The agreement with the government of Mali was signed following the 42nd annual meeting of the IDB Group. "The Sahel is a region in West Africa which desperately needs access to finance to boost economic growth. This cross-border project is an important milestone for the LLF; the largest project signed to date, and for the first time drives impact across several countries at once, benefiting one million people across Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal with an emphasis on small ruminant and livestock production by smallholder farmers and pastoralists," Al Hadrawi added. He said, "The project is testament to the global nature of LLF, the largest multilateral development of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa, formed through a collaboration between some of the biggest development and humanitarian organizations in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. The fund spans borders to offer a regional solution to development challenges in Muslim majority countries." It is estimated that about 50 million people rely on pastoralism for a major part of their livelihood in Sub-Saharan Africa, with around half of them located in the Sahel and the Saharan fringes, and 70 percent classified as poor by the World Bank. LLF is the largest multilateral development initiative in the Middle East and North Africa, targeting poverty alleviation in the member countries of the IDB. The fund aims to make $2.5 billion available for anti-poverty projects in health, agriculture and rural infrastructure over five years. $363 million was approved for the funds first operational year in 2016, and another $242 million approved in 2017 for new projects in different countries. (QNA)