EU Grant Agreement signed between AFD and Myanmar

21 November 2017
EU Grant Agreement signed between AFD and Myanmar

The French Development Agency (AFD) and the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, represented by the Irrigation and Water Utilization Management Department (IWUMD) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI), has signed a Grant Agreement of 20 M€ in favour of the ‘Irrigated Agriculture Inclusive Development Project’ (IAIDP), according to a press release. 
This grant is provided by the European Union (EU) through its Asia Investment Facility (AIF), which is a regional blending facility focused on climate change and green investments. EU grant resources offer the opportunity to leverage and pool financing from multilateral and bilateral European Finance Institutions like AFD, and hence to improve aid effectiveness and enhance the impacts of projects.
 
IAIDP aims to improve living conditions and incomes of rural communities in the Central Dry Zone of Myanmar, through the development of agricultural production and its value chain and the optimization of water resource management. In particular, EU/AIF grant which is delegated to AFD will focus on capacity building on irrigation management, good and environmental friendly agricultural practices and integrated water resources management.
It is expected that the project will bring about an increase and a diversification in agricultural production on 90,000 acres, an improved efficiency of irrigation networks and will contribute to defining an irrigation policy and a better control of water resources through strengthened capacity of farmers, of concerned departments under MoALI and the creation of Water Users Groups. The project will be implemented by MoALI and in particular by IWUMD and DOA (Department of Agriculture), over a period of 7 years.
In addition to this EU grant, the project is co-financed by AFD (25 M€ loan signed on 25th September 2017), the Asian Development Bank (75 MUSD loan signed on 22nd March 2017) and the Government of Myanmar via the collection of taxes.