The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) agreed on Monday in Rome to intensify their efforts to boost investment in Africa’s agricultural sector with a view to ending hunger, malnutrition and poverty in the continent.
As part of the agreement, the AfDB and FAO pledged more than US$100 million over five years to support joint partnership activities, reports the Organization of the African Press (APO) in a statement.
The new strategic alliance aims to improve the quality and impact of investments in food security, nutrition, social protection, agriculture, forestry, fisheries and rural development.
From the agency’s headquarters in Rome, Mr. Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the AfDB, and Mr. José Graziano da Silva, the Director General of FAO, signed the agreement that builds on the long-standing collaboration that already exists between both organizations.
“FAO and AfDB are stepping up and deepening their partnership to help African countries achieve their sustainable development goals.
Capitalizing on investments in agriculture, including those from the private sector, is essential to lift millions of people out of poverty in Africa and to ensure that enough food is produced and that there are enough jobs to cope with the rising population, ” said da Silva.
“The signing of this Supplementary Agreement is an important step in the relationship between the African Development Bank and FAO. It marks our common commitment to accelerate the implementation of high quality programs and to improve investments from public and private partnerships in the agricultural sector in Africa.
This will help us to make agriculture a source of business, a concept further developed in the Bank’s “Feed Africa strategy,” added Adesina.
Launched in 2015, the Bank’s Feed Africa strategy aims to invest US$24 billion in African agriculture over a 10-year period.
The goal is to improve agricultural policies, markets, infrastructure and institutions to ensure that agricultural value chains are well developed and that better technologies are available to reach several thousand farmers.
AfDB and FAO are also contributing to a series of continental dialogues, including the reduction of post-harvest crop losses, the Great Green Wall of the Sahel and the Sahara Initiative.
GNA