AfDB and partners mobilize $30 billion for African farmers

Addis Ababa January 28, 2023 (FBC) – The Dakar II Feed Africa Summit concluded on Friday with a $30 billion pledge by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and development partners to finance food and agribusiness on the continent in the next five years.

Of the amount announced at the summit held in the Senegalese capital, the AfDB pledged to mobilize $10 billion.

Leaders who attended the event called on the African Union Commission and the AfDB to help mobilize more funding to top up the amount announced and report on the overall investment at the February African Union Summit, the East African stated.

It added that some 34 African heads of state and government, and leaders of international and bilateral development organizations, and the private sector attended the in a Summit, whose theme was “Feed Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience”.

AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said that Africa’s agriculture sector will depend on strong political will and commitment of governments, development partners, and the private sector and the scaling up of highly impactful continental programmes such as the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation.

Adesina emphasized the place of infrastructure in transforming rural areas into agricultural production and processing zones.

He disclosed that the bank in the past two years invested $1 billion on 23 projects on special agro-industrial processing zones in 11 countries.

AfDB further stated that the summit saw the launch of the Mission 1 for 200, a joint programme of the AfDB and the International Fund for Agricultural Development to help 40 million African farmers to produce 100 million tonnes of food for 200 million people.

Mission 1 for 200 is meant to build resilience by helping farmers adapt to climate change and reduce agriculture’s environmental impact and emissions, the report added.

It is to be recalled that at the summit, the FDRE Minister of Planning and Development, Fitsum Asefa, shared the results brought about by the first national food and agriculture supply program, which was implemented from 2016 to 2022.

The Minister tabled a presentation to the leaders of various countries and development partner organizations regarding Ethiopia’s efforts in the agriculture sector.

During the first implementation of the African Development Bank program, Ethiopia’s endeavors to ensure food security in wheat production and the results it achieved were also presented and discussed.

By Yonathan Yoseph