African leaders express support for the outcome of the African Development Bank Food Summit and call for swift implementation | African Development Bank

African heads of state and government have endorsed the results of the recent Dakar 2 Summit on Food Sovereignty and Resilience, hosted in January by the African Development Bank Group and the Government of Senegal, and called for global support for its immediate implementation.

In a resolution read Sunday at the conclusion of the 36th African Union Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, they described the Dakar 2 Food Summit as important and timely to address rising food prices, the disruption of global food supplies and the deterioration of food production. insecurity in Africa.

In less than a month, the Dakar 2 Food summit has mobilized more than $36 billion in investment to boost food and agricultural production across the continent. The African Development Bank led with $10 billion, while the Islamic Bank committed $7 billion.

Development partners include the African Development Bank, which plans to contribute $10 billion over five years, and the Islamic Development Bank, which plans to provide $5 billion.

The leaders said: “The Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts developed at the Dakar 2 summit represent the vision, challenges and opportunities in agricultural productivity, infrastructure, processing, value added, markets and financing that will contribute to the acceleration of implementation. of the African Union’s Comprehensive Development Program for Agriculture in Africa.”

As a proactive step forward, the African Union called for the implementation of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts with time-bound and clearly measurable indicators of success, including concrete national policies, incentives and regulations to create an enabling environment for broader and accelerated investment in the entire agricultural sector.

Speaking at the AU summit, president after president praised the African Development Bank for its leadership in helping Africa feed itself and become a breadbasket for the world.

Senegalese head of state and outgoing African Union president Macky Sall praised the work of the African Development Bank and its leadership as he addressed the opening ceremony of the 36th African Union summit on Saturday.

President Sall, who has been President of the AU since February 2022, paid tribute to the African Development Bank and the effective work it is doing to drive progress across the continent, including food security.

“I am deeply grateful to our brother Akinwumi Adesina for the enthusiasm and leadership with which he continues to mobilize the African Development Bank to help unlock the continent’s agricultural potential and end food dependence,” said the Senegalese leader whose country co-hosted of the food top. said.

“The excellent results of Dakar 2 testify to this,” he added.

The summit resulted in the 2023 Dakar Declaration on Food Sovereignty and Resilience, which emphasizes that the UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 on zero hunger can only be achieved if it is achieved in Africa.

“Thanks to the continued efforts of the African Development Bank, approximately $36 billion has already been committed to increase agricultural productivity, including $10 billion from the bank, under the national pacts signed.”

The Senegalese president further called on his fellow heads of state and government to “endorse the Dakar Declaration 2 on food sovereignty and resilience and instruct the African Union Commission to work with the bank towards its implementation.”

“No more ‘Africa of problems’, now it’s time for an ‘Africa of solutions!’ President Sall said, brandishing a credo he shares with the president of the African Development Bank.

Sall’s stance was taken up by his successor, the President of the Comoros, and the new African Union President for 2023, Azali Assoumani.

On the first day of the 36th African Union Summit, the presidency of the African Union was handed over from the Senegalese leader to his counterpart from the Union of the Comoros.

According to Assoumani, the Russo-Ukrainian war, like COVID-19, has shown the urgency for African countries to break the cycle of dependence by proactively growing food production and, most importantly, by conforming to the Dakar statement on food sovereignty and resilience.

Assoumani called for deeper involvement with relevant organizations, in particular the African Development Bank, “which is doing everything possible to support the agricultural sector in Africa, to obtain seeds and raw materials for this production, but also to strengthen the capacities of our countries in an important area. of agriculture.”

He praised what he described as the bank’s exceptional leadership for its work on food security for Africa. The President of the Comoros also advocated a special place for young people in agriculture “who have great potential and will enable our countries to emerge from poverty, famine, malnutrition and dependence”.

“It is indeed essential to train and occupy these young people, to prevent them from becoming hostages of 13 extremists of all kinds, who threaten the peace and stability of our countries through their terrorist actions,” said Assoumani.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called on the African Union and development partners to support the 2023 Dakar Declaration on Food Sovereignty and Resilience to unleash Africa’s agricultural potential.

“The statement rightly recognized the continental awakening that it is time for Africa to feed itself and fully unlock its agricultural potential to feed the world,” said Ahmed.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the African Union Commission, stressed in his opening speech that “the time for talking is over”. to redemption”.

In its statement at the end of the AU summit, the organization noted that despite holding 65 percent of the world’s remaining farmland, a third of the world’s 828 million hungry people live on the continent. Africa continues to face severe food insecurity.

The African Union stressed that Africa can produce enough food to feed itself and contribute to feeding the rest of the world. It agreed with the African Development Bank’s view that achieving and maintaining food sovereignty requires delivering agricultural technology to farmers at scale, as well as increasing food production and increasing investment in food and agricultural systems to achieve and maintain food security .

African leaders also played their part in scaling up highly influential continental initiatives such as the African Development Bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation and other successful country and partner programs.

The leaders appealed to the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank

follow up with various development partners to finalize their planned financial support to complement the $30 billion funding announced at the Dakar 2 summit and to report on total investment from development partners at the next regular session of the General Assembly Meeting in 2024

At the African Union meeting, Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank Group, met with several African presidents, including Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania, William Ruto of Kenya, Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed, and a variety of partners and decision-makers during the 36th AT summit. These include Vice Chair of the African Union Commission, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Molly Phee, who was accompanied by Special Presidential Representative for the Implementation of the US-Africa Summit, Johnnie Carson, AUC President Moussa Faki Mahamat, and Secretary General of the International Organization of La Francophonie, Louise Mushikiwabo.

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