Achieving Zero Hunger in Africa is within reach, say global agriculture leaders in Rome ahead of 2023 Africa Food Summit in Dakar | African Development Bank

Eradicating hunger in Africa by 2030 is possible, global agriculture leaders said in Rome. Meeting ahead of the African Food Summit (Dakar 2) hosted by President Macky Sall in Dakar, Senegal, January 25-27, 2023, Chairman of the African Development Bank Group Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) President Alvaro Lario and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director General Qu Dongyu said the goal was achievable.

The Dakar 2 high-level summit, themed ‘Unleashing Africa’s Food Potential’, convened jointly by the African Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Research, will attract African heads of state, finance and agriculture ministers, as well as several global developing countries. partners.

The aim of the Dakar 2 conference is to mobilize political support for the structural transformation of agriculture in Africa, following renewed global interest in the sector and the fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has led to a significant increase in costs of food production and imports.

Adesina said: “It is inexcusable that a continent with 65% of the world’s most fertile land and abundant water resources continues to suffer from food insecurity. The summit is a critical global effort to systematically and proactively help Africa achieve Zero Hunger.”

According to the bank chief, “We have the technologies, platforms and resources to change the status quo by boosting the private sector, scaling up food production for millions of African farmers, freeing up finance for farmers and agricultural SMEs and improving agriculture and farming. to transform. food value chains.”

IFAD President Alvaro Lario congratulated the African Development Bank on its historic and largest-ever ADF16 donor replenishment, acknowledging the leadership of the Bank Group and the decades-old partnership between the institution and the Bank.

The African Development Bank Group and IFAD account for 55% of all multi-development aid to agriculture in Africa. As co-organizers of the 2023 Africa Food Summit, the Bank Group and IFAD will work on policy frameworks and supply pacts for food and agriculture.

Performance-based agreements with African governments, development partners and the private sector that meet clear goals for food self-sufficiency will be at the heart of the Dakar 2 Africa Food Summit, according to the compilers.

FAO Director General Qu Dongyu said long-term partnerships and pooled resources with the African Development Bank Group will help leverage and catalyze agricultural projects across the continent.

“We need to collaborate across the entire agricultural value chain from food production, food processing and food marketing in a complementary, pragmatic and result-oriented way. Ensuring food security is the end game,” he said.

Recent cooperation between FAO and the African Development Bank Group includes the identification and preparation of projects in Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea, and the technical development of blue economy programs in Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire and Morocco; climate-smart agriculture training and multi-stakeholder dialogues on the Bank’s Desert to Power and Great Green Wall initiatives.

The January 2023 Africa Food Summit will also focus on scaling access to technologies and finance for agricultural SMEs and smallholders, increased productivity and the development of seed, storage, electricity, transport logistics and infrastructure.