Donors pledge $30 billion for Africa’s agriculture

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - Africa’s development partners committed $30 billion Friday to agricultural development and food sovereignty on the continent during the next five years.

The announcement came at the closure of a continental food summit in Senegal’s capital, Dakar.

The funding would be based on direct support in the delivery of agricultural and food inputs.

The summit applauds “the planned investment of $10 billion by the African Development Bank and a further $20 billion by several other partners in support of Africa’s agricultural transformation,” leaders said in a statement.

The summit resolved to mobilize internal and external financing for the continent’s food and agriculture delivery compacts from a broad range of bilateral and multilateral partners and the private sector.

The leaders also re-committed to increasing financing from national budgets toward agriculture growth and transformation for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods by allocating at least 10% of public expenditure to agriculture.

The three-day summit was initiated by the African Development Bank to find concrete actions to feed nearly 250 million people suffering from hunger in Africa.

Africa has 65% of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land and has the potential to produce enough food to feed itself and contribute to feeding the rest of the world.

But despite its huge agricultural potential, Africa suffers from high food insecurity, with one-third of the 828 million hungry people in the world on the continent.

“What Africa does in agriculture will determine the world's food supply. The rest of the world will support Africa in achieving its goals,” African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina said at the summit.

Heads of state and government of 34 African countries, heads of international and bilateral development organizations and leaders of the private sector attended the summit hosted by Senegalese President and Chairperson of the African Union Macky Sall.