AfDB to Empower African Farmers With Staple Crops Seeds

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has said it will empower 20 million farmers with climate-adapted, certified wheat, and other staple crops seeds to avert a food crisis in Africa.

Specifically, the President of the bank, Akinwumi Adesina, disclosed this in a document titled, ‘Averting an African food crisis: The African food production facility’ released in Abuja.

The initiative, the document revealed, would tackle the food crisis in African countries including Nigeria, noting that the delivery of seeds and fertilizers would be done through the bank’s African emergency food production facility.

According to the document, within the next two years, the facility would allow farmers to produce 38 million additional tonnes of food, stressing that the plan was a 30 per cent increment in local production worth an estimated $12 billion and to support enhanced governance and policy reforms in Africa.

The statement read, “From the onset, the African Development Bank realized the strategic need to tackle the devastating impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Africa’s food security. It is important to prevent unrest and even more human suffering. In May, the bank established a $1.5 billion African emergency food production facility. In less than 60 days, it put into action $1.13 billion worth of programmes under the facility across 24 African countries. Half a dozen more programmes are expected to get underway by September as more governments apply to the facility. Africa needs seeds in the ground and mechanical harvesters to harvest bountiful food produced locally. Africa will feed itself with pride because there is no dignity in begging for food.”

Agro Nigeria