Today the Central African Republic imports around 85% of the products used nationally due to low productivity of the mainly subsistence-based agricultural sector. Cash crops contribute little to the economy as such, despite the potential for the development of coffee, cacao and rubber value chains. The TRI project in the Central African Republic aims to restore at least 3 221 ha of degraded lands through the promotion of forestry and agro-forestry models while ensuring agro-ecological practices. The private sector will play a key role in making this happen.

It is in this context that an international expert on private finance mobilization undertook a scoping mission to CAR in June 2019 to identify opportunities for public-private partnership development and assess the needs in terms of private sector investments. The role of the Government in terms of providing the enabling conditions for private sector investments is critical and as such the project should support the following interventions: ensuring land access, providing platform for exchange on value chain development, putting in place enabling policies for inclusive value chain development linked to restoration. One of the key recommendations was the development of financing instruments specific to the agricultural and forestry sectors, as at the moment the current banking system cannot provide easily accessible credit for farmers of young entrepreneurs.

A possible public-private partnership opportunity looking to develop agroforestry close to the capital of Bangui was brought to the attention of the Project Steering Committee (PSC). The company has long experience within Central Africa Republic, and secured an agreement with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development to start the process of securing approximately 2 500 ha of land. The project aims to work closely with local communities on both the aspects of green charcoal and agroforestry promotion, and a total of 400 ha will be on community land. The Project Steering Committee has approved this idea and instructed the TRI project team to analyze this opportunity during the first semester of 2020 to check how it fits within the overall project objective and to evaluate what the project can actually bring into this possible partnership.

For more information contact: [email protected]

Philippe Duchochois and Jean Bobongo (FAO)