By Irene Gaitirira
Published September 11, 2018
Collective action by State and non-State players is needed to accelerate Africa’s agricultural growth and transformation.
Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and winner of the World Food Prize in 2017, says world food security will depend on what Africa does with Agriculture.
Dr Adesina says he envisions a food-secure continent which uses advanced technologies, creatively adapts to climate change, and develops a whole new generation of what he describes as ‘agripreneurs’ – empowered youth and women who he expects to take agriculture to the next level.
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By 2050, it is estimated that Africa–that is reported to be spending US$35 billion on food imports each year, a figure that is expected to rise to US$110 billion in 2025 if present trends continue–will have an additional 38 million hungry mouths.
Akinwumi Adesina is on a global mission to promote and seek support for the AfDB’s Affirmative Finance for Women in Africa (AFAWA) programme which aims to mobilize US$3 billion to support women entrepreneurs who historically lack access to finance, land, and land titles; a US$300 million ENABLE Youth programme to develop the next generation of agribusiness and commercial farmers for Africa; and a new global investment marketplace, the African Investment Forum, which will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 7-9, 2018.
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Dr Adesina says Africa and its partners must seize unprecedented opportunities for innovative partnerships and increased development impact. The private sector, he says, is key to Africa’s Africa’s energy and agriculture sectors as more than 640 million Africans have no access to electricity.
Akinwumi Adesina, a former Minister for Agriculture in Nigeria, contends that lack of electricity is Africa’s biggest development impediment. The Bank’s new and ambitious Desert-to-Power initiative, which aims to generate 10 000 MW of power across Africa’s Sahel region, will be critical in
reducing the impact of migration and climate change in Africa.
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