The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has just given the green light to 24 accelerated programs to help the African continent mitigate the effects of rising food prices and inflation caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a statement published on the AfDB website on Tuesday.
The text underlines that this first round of approvals is part of the Bank’s African Emergency Food Production Facility, a $1.5 billion initiative, which the Bank launched in May 2022, with the objectives of strengthening food security, nutrition and resilience in Africa.
The Facility aims to provide certified seeds and access to agricultural fertilizers to 20 million African smallholders, to end dependence on food imports from Russia and Ukraine.
It will also support governance and policy reforms to encourage investment in the agricultural sector in Africa; and will enable African farmers to produce an additional 38 million tons of food over the next two years, for an estimated $12 billion.
The press release also informs that as of July 15, the AfDB Board of Directors had approved a total of $1.13 billion in blended financing for the programs that the Emergency Facility is deploying in 24 countries.
These are eight in West Africa (Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo), five in East Africa (Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, South Sudan), six in Southern Africa (Eswatini, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe), four in Central Africa (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad) and one in North Africa (Egypt).
“These programs will provide much-needed climate-smart seeds, access to affordable fertilizers, and drive policy reforms to enable the agriculture sector to provide immediate, medium, and long-term solutions. , to the challenges facing regional member countries,” said the Bank’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, Beth Dunford.
While the Russian-Ukrainian crisis leads to a deficit of at least 30 million tons of food in Africa, a successful implementation of the Facility will make it possible to produce 38 million tons of food, i.e. more than the quantity imported combined from Russia and Ukraine. African farmers will then produce some 11 million tons of wheat, 18 million tons of maize, 6 million tons of rice and 2.5 million tons of soybeans, the AfDB said.
By OMA Newsletter N° 788 of 20/07/2022
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
