65% of uncultivated arable land in Africa enough to feed 9.5bn people by 2050- Adesina
The President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, has said Africa had 65 percent of the uncultivated arable land left in the world to feed 9.5 billion people by 2050.
Adesina stated that what Africa does with agriculture will determine the future of food in the world.
“Essentially, food is money. The size of the food and agriculture market in Africa will reach $1 trillion by 2030″, said Adesina.
He made these assertions recently while briefing Primates at the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa Retreat.
Adesina briefed the clergymen on the Bank’s $25 billion program to transform agriculture by providing high performing agricultural technologies for 40 million farmers and making Africa food self-sufficient by 2030.
Speaking on the theme ‘Food Security and Financial Sustainability in Africa: The role of the Church’, Adesina said Nigeria must feed itself with pride, warning that a nation that depends on others to feed itself, is independent only in name.
He shared the Bank’s successes in helping member countries tackle the negative effects of climate change, through financial investments and its flagship Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) program.
According to the Bank president, TAAT has helped Ethiopia to become a net exporter of wheat within five years, and it has significantly increased Sudan’s wheat production, as well as supported countries in Eastern and Southern Africa to continue producing food in the face of a prolonged drought.
For Nigeria, Adesina said, “Together with the Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, we have provided $520 million to support the establishment of Special Agricultural Processing Zones, which will allow private agribusinesses to establish industries that process and add value to agricultural commodities.”
In addition, the Bank provided $134 million to Nigeria for emergency food production to help drive down food price inflation, by significantly boosting the local production of wheat, and cassava, under the national Agricultural Growth Scheme.
Adesina urged the Nigerian government to take advantage of the Bank’s investments and support for African farmers; show greater determination and commitment to achieving food self-sufficiency, and to incentivize private sector agribusinesses.
To support Africa’s ambitions to move up the global agricultural value chains, the African Development Bank Group and its partners, are supporting the development of 28 Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) l in 11 countries, with $4.5 billion dollars mobilized so far.
