As the Technical Assistance (TA) Facility Manager for the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund (AATIF), the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) is pleased to share with you the AATIF 2021/22 Annual Report. The year 2021 was characterized by the gradual economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic amid the rise of new challenges such as the global energy crisis and the war in Ukraine. Despite the uncertainty, the AATIF Fund and the CFC-managed AATIF TA Facility have remained responsive, adaptive, and creative in their efforts to continue supporting agribusinesses, financial institutions, and the associated farming communities across Africa.

One way the AATIF TA Facility works to strengthen local value chains is through a TA project that helps improve the skills of apprentice millers at an AATIF investee company by supporting them to participate in the professional miller apprenticeship program offered by the African Milling School in Nairobi, Kenya. The school provides a two-year comprehensive program that capacitates junior millers to better understand the technology and equipment used to process grain into high value finished products. Stimulating local processing is at the heart of AATIF’s approach towards creating sustainable impact that ultimately benefits smallholder farmers and improves food security. The TA support provided to the portfolio investee will ensure that the company is able to preserve the identity and quality of its wheat products over time.

COVID-related travel restrictions were eased early on in 2022, and the AATIF TA Facility Manager is pleased to be enhancing it’s on the ground presence for project development and implementation, which is crucial to providing tailor-made technical support across Africa.