By Politico Staff Writer
The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) with support from the European Union (EU) is set to provide financial support to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the agricultural sector.
The organization will be implementing this support through the ‘Salone Access to Finance’, the project seeks to address the need for improved access to financial services and support for MSMEs in agriculture, create jobs and build a sustainable and inclusive economic development sector.
UNCDF Country Lead and Programme’s Manager Mohammad AlBatayneh said “Through strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts, UNCDF is poised to make a meaningful impact on the lives of individuals and businesses, creating opportunities for economic empowerment and resilience, courtesy of funding from the EU”.
In a bid to achieve this, the UNCDF has held an engagement with certain ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and the private sector partners to build a partnership and foster collaboration and cooperation.
The project design includes four critical components for the agriculture sector: investment, insurance, digitalization and business Environment. The design is based on the long- standing experience and knowledge of the digital financial landscape in Sierra Leone. The UNCDF team produces yearly state-of-the-market reports on digital financial services.
According to UNCDF’s media alert, the agricultural sector, including livestock and forestry are critical components of the country’s economy, explaining that the sector employs about two-thirds of the labour force and contributes more than 60% of its GDP.
“The main farming system in Sierra Leone is subsistence farming which is still mainly rain-fed and characterized by low productivity and highly prone to climate risk” a part reads.
The team recently published a feasibility study for climate risk insurance products in the country, the study examined the growing impact of climate-induced disasters in the country, agriculture sector and explored how innovative insurance solutions could contribute to the resilience of smallholder farmers.
UNCDF in Sierra Leone is gearing up for the official launch of its highly anticipated “Salone Access to Finance” project in mid-March of this year. The Salone project is a joint initiative under the European Union Jobs and Growth Programme. The project is expected to provide appropriate digital financial solutions to 500,000 low-income customers, including women, youth and entrepreneurs in the country for the next five years.
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