Gilbert Ekugbe
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has stated that with the removal of barriers to agricultural development aided by new investments, Africa’s agricultural output could increase from $280 billion per year to $1 trillion by 2030
According to the AfDB president, Akinwumi Adesina, in a statement to herald the Dakar II summit scheduled to hold today at the Abdou Diouf International Conference Center in Diamniadio, Senegal’s capital city Dakar, said this is the time to invest in Africa’s future, pointing out that the continent has more than 60 per cent of the world’s remaining arable land, and millions of Africans are productive in the agriculture sector.
He stressed that the continent is home to a third of the world’s 850 million people living with hunger, assuring that the Dakar II Summit will mobilise political commitment, development partner and private sector investment, establish much needed policies and strategically drive actions to deliver at scale.
“This landmark event will be a turning point towards food sovereignty and resilience for the entire continent. The International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Islamic Development Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, and several bilateral partners are among international supporters of the summit,” he added.
He stated that the summit is at the heart of the Bank Group’s Feed Africa Strategy, one of the institution’s High 5 priority areas to support African countries to significantly increase agricultural growth, adding that the summit is a follow-up to the 2015 inaugural edition, during which the Feed Africa Strategy for Agricultural Transformation (2016-2025) in Africa, was proposed.
It is expected that during the summit, heads of state and government will convene sessions to develop transformational country-specific food and agriculture delivery compacts while development partners and the private sector will also play significant roles during sessions and the overall summit.
African countries are also expected to make measurable political commitments to implement policies designed to eliminate extreme poverty, hunger and malnutrition in Africa.
The Vice President for Agriculture, AfDB, Dr. Beth Dunford, said the country compacts will provide targeted roadmaps toward self-sufficiency, and provide interventions that will make Africa’s agriculture sector more business-oriented and commercially viable.
“The Summit will be the one-stop-shop for African countries pursuing more and better investments that are public sector enabled, and private sector-led,” Dunford said.
The gathering will showcase programs already contributing to African food sovereignty and resilience. This includes the African Development Bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) platform, which is delivering heat-tolerant wheat, drought-tolerant maize, and high-yield rice seeds to 11 million African farmers in 21 countries
On his part, the Director for Agriculture and Agro-Industry, AfDB, Dr. Martin Fregene, noted that TAAT will produce 100 million metric tonnes of additional food to feed 200 million people.
He said: “We know what works in Africa. Taking agricultural technology programs like TAAT to scale does more than boost agricultural outputs. It increases wealth, creates jobs and opens our markets up to regional and international trade. It is critical to support these efforts. Africa stands to gain – the world stands to gain – from such a concerted effort.”
