President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Akinwumi Adesina, on Wednesday in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, announced that the bank would devote up to 10 billion U.S. dollars to agricultural development and food sovereignty on the African continent.
The AfDB president made the announcement at the opening of the second edition of the Dakar Summit on Food Sovereignty. He said that this funding would be based on direct support in the delivery of agricultural and food inputs.
“What Africa does in agriculture will determine the world’s food supply. The rest of the world will support Africa in achieving its goals,” the AfDB president said.
Akinwumi Adesina said the Dakar Summit must usher in “a new start towards a new destination,” stressing that 65 percent of the world’s arable land is in Africa. He regrets the continent’s dependence on imports and the fact that millions of Africans go to bed hungry.
The three-day Dakar Summit, running from Jan. 25 to 27, was themed “Feeding Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience”. It is co-organized by the African Development Bank and Senegal.
