(Ecofin Agency) - Ethiopia signed on December 2, 2016, a financial agreement with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to develop small-scale irrigation systems. Initialing the agreement were Kanayo Nwanze, IFAD’s president, and Mulugeta Alemseged, Ethiopia’s ambassador to Italy and the United Nations.

Valued at more than $144 million, the agreement includes a $102 million loan and a grant of $12.5 million from the institution. It should profit 108,750 Ethiopian rural poor households located in the regions of Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region.

The facility falls in line with the Participatory Small-Scale Irrigation Development Programme (PASIDP), initiated by the Ethiopian government valued at $145 million. It is co-financed by the government ($18.7 million) and the beneficiaries themselves ($12 million).