Africa Needs $614bn To Tackle Food Insecurity – IFAD
The International Fund for Agricultural Development has stated that Africa needs a cumulative sum of $614bn by 2030 to address its rising challenge of food insecurity and transform the food system.
The Associate Vice President for External Relations and Governance, IFAD, Satu Santala, disclosed in a report titled “Financing food systems resilience in Africa: A starting point for transformation”.
He called for more finance and investments in Africa’s food systems, innovations that reorient towards fairer outcomes, create jobs and harness the potential of Africa’s youth.
According to him, in the wake of the war in Ukraine, IFAD launched a Crisis Response Initiative to protect the livelihoods and productive assets of small-scale farmers.
“Bringing more and fairer investments into African food systems requires innovation
and commitments from governments, the private sector, and international partners.
“This is where I see room for leaders to focus their attention. New research indicates that transforming African food systems is estimated to require $77bn a year until 2030–$614bn in total,” he explained.
“Through our work on the ground, we see that investing in fair and sustainable food systems can transform small-scale farms into sustainable agribusinesses. This builds local production capacity and improves Africa’s food sovereignty. It creates jobs along the value chain, particularly in processing, transport, and marketing,” it claimed.
More so, it highlighted that when rural economies were thriving, they offered opportunities for decent work.
It further asserted, “Migration becomes a choice, not a necessity, and the foundation is laid for better livelihoods, resilience, and peace.
“We are working on innovations in food systems financing, including with the World Bank, and significantly scaling up partnerships with the Green Climate Fund.”