Central African Republic - Resilience, Food and Nutrition Security Support Project in Kemo and Ouaka Prefectures (PARSANKO)

The Resilience, Food and Nutrition Security Support Project in the Prefectures of Kémo and Ouaka (PARSANKO) stems from the top priorities of the Central African Government’s National Recovery and Peace-building Plan (RCPCA) which seeks to revive the economy, increase rural incomes and improve the population’s food and nutrition security by enhancing agricultural and livestock production and rural productivity. The project, which is estimated to cost UA 21.38 million in total (USD 29.51 million), will be implemented over a five-year period from 2021jointly with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Labour Office (ILO) which will respectively support agro-pastoral production and community initiatives. PARSANKO will, in synergy with the various ongoing projects financed by other TFPs, help to build on the lessons learned from an approach that promotes community initiatives to support inclusive and sustainable agricultural sector development. In this context, it will experiment, on a pilot basis: (a) new technologies for increasing productivity; (b) inclusive financing mechanisms; and (c) support for youth entrepreneurship in agricultural sub-sectors. PARSANKO comprises three components, namely: (i) Support for Agropastoral Production; (ii) Support for Community Initiatives; and (iii) Project Management. It will also contribute to mitigating the potential effects and impacts of COVID-19 in the target prefectures as well as enhancing women’s and youth empowerment. Therefore, project beneficiaries will be encouraged to widely adopt best agricultural practices through a significant increase in access to agricultural services. The intensification of beneficiaries’ agropastoral production will also be facilitated by developing or rehabilitating production infrastructure and easing access to factors of production.