Last week the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced two new grants designed to support small cocoa and cashew farmers in Africa. The $48 million in total funding will support public-private partnership projects that aim to boost production for smallholder farmers and expand productivity in the cashew and cocoa sectors in Africa.

The World Cocoa Foundation received $23 million for cocoa initiatives, and one of the German government’s development agencies, Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), was given $25 million for cashew projects in Africa. Both grants awarded will supplement $42 million in cash and in-kind contributions from the private sector, NGOs, and local governments that will provide technical assistance to farmers and the industries.

Smallholder agriculture is a source of income and livelihood for more than half of sub-Saharan Africa’s population. According to the Foundation’s press release, cocoa is a key export from West Africa and accounts for 70% of the world’s supply, while Africa produces one third of the world’s cashew crop. Initiatives that improve the quality and yield for these crops have the potential to increase incomes and improve livelihoods of thousands of farming families.

The cocoa project will focus on farmer training and education, crop diversification, and making the supply chain more efficient, and aims to double the incomes of smallholder cocoa farmers. The five-year project will reach approximately 200,000 cocoa farmers in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria. Bill Guyton, president of the World Cocoa Foundation commented on the grant announcement, “Cocoa has the potential to deliver significant improvements in income as well as in family and community well-being across rural West and Central Africa.”

Africa’s cashew market is currently impeded by a lack of cashew processing facilities. The cashew project plans to, build processing capacity, increase farmer productivity, and increase links between farmers and the marketplace. The project aims to help 150,000 smallholder farmers in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Mozambique increase their incomes by 50 percent by 2012. The development or expansion of local factories will also provide new employment opportunities in these countries.

Funding like these grants, that come with technical assistance and partner expertise, and focus on expanding opportunities for agriculture and trade, are an exciting step towards harnessing the power of agriculture to positively impact livelihoods in Africa.

-Beth Adler