Over 3000 farmers to benefit from USAID boost into Africa Free Trading Area worth USD 0.5 Million
The United States Agency for International Development is aiming at supporting over 3000 farmers in East Africa to enter and enjoy the benefits of the African Free Trading area with their fresh agricultural produce.
The growers in the East African Community Member States stand to benefit from a new partnership between USAID, TradeMark Africa and the Arusha-based East African Business Council in which USD 0.5 million will be floated.
The three-year partnership funded by the USAID Economic Recovery and Reform Activity (USAID-ERRA) will focus on reducing trade constraints, especially for high-potential agricultural exports: tea, mate, coffee, rice, vegetables, staple foods, cotton, textiles, and garments.
The USD 508,000 in the new partnership will boost the trading potential of 220 private sector enterprises including Small and Medium Enterprises and 3000 farmers, processors and private proprietors.
David Rogers, Deputy Director, USAID Kenya and East Africa stated here that, “This initiative underscores the need for increased collaboration across the region and sustained engagement with policymakers and the private sector on AfCFTA-related matters.
The project gets to cover the countries within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which is described to be the world’s largest free trade area, encompassing 55 African Union countries.
According to a study undertaken by TMA and the East Africa Community (EAC) Secretariat the total trade potential of the EAC in continental free trade area is estimated at USD 1.9 billion.
Kenya has the largest share of this potential at USD 705.5 million, followed by Tanzania ( USD 594 million), the DR Congo (USD 342 million), Uganda (USD 178.2 million), Rwanda (USD 36.1 million) and Burundi at USD 1.3 million.
The East African Business Council will also work to resolve 12 high-impact non-tariff barriers, facilitate trade deals through Business-to-Business market linkages and increase awareness of market opportunities under the AfCFTA.
David Beer, CEO at TMA, emphasized that the Private-sector action is critical to ensure a unified message from businesses to policymakers at national, regional, and continental levels.
Adrian Njau, the Acting Executive Director at EABC, added: “Together, we will enable women, youth, SMEs, and other value chain actors to access trade policy instruments and participate in intra-Africa trade.
” To this end, the initiative will engage key stakeholders, including the East African Women in Business Platform (EAWiBP), the East African Sub-Regional Support Initiative for Advancement of Women (EASSI), and YouLead.