New Telegraph

Development partners pledge $30bn to boost Africa’s food production

The second Africa food summit in Senegal ended over the weekend, with development partners agreeing to commit $30 billion to back the continent’s resolve to boost agricultural productivity and become a breadbasket for the world. Among the development partners are the African Development Bank (AfDB) which plans to contribute $10 billion over five years, and the Islamic Development Bank, which intends to provide $5 billion.

The Dakar 2 Summit—under the theme, “Feed Africa: food sovereignty and resilience”—adopted a Declaration on the implementation of the Summit’s resolution, to be submitted to the African Union. Organized by the Senegalese government and the African Development Bank, the Summit rallied dozens of dignitaries, including 34 heads of state and government, 70 government ministers, and development partners, to work tirelessly on compacts that would transform agriculture across Africa. Addressing the closing plenary, AfDB President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina ,said the continent and its partners are determined to see results and that implementation is critical to boosting food production and feeding Africa. “The message was clear: we will work together to strongly support the implementation of the Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts at country levels,” Adesina said. He said the heads of state and government committed to setting up presidential high level advisory councils to oversee the implementation of the Compacts, to be chaired by the presidents themselves in their respective countries.

“With strong collective determination and resolve, we will work in coordination and partnerships to help countries to deliver success,” he affirmed. Adesina, who commended the high turnout at the event, said: “We came in response to a clarion call out of Africa that it is time for Africa to feed Africa. The clarion call was that the time is right, and the time is now for Africa to feed itself. We came from Africa. We came from around the world.” He said that Dakar 2 Summit would be remembered as a key moment in Africa’s ability to feed itself and achieve food selfsufficiency and food sovereignty: “We leave with a determination and resolve to feed Africa.

With hands together and in locked steps, we will reach our destination: An Africa that finally feeds itself. An Africa that develops with pride.” In the Dakar Declaration, the leaders agreed to allocate at least 10% of public expenditure to increase funding for agriculture. They also resolved to deploy robust production packages to boost productivity and increase resilience to achieve food security and self-sufficiency. In his closing remarks, Senegalese Prime Minister Amadou Ba called the summit “a resounding success.” “Agriculture creates jobs and promotes wealth and health,” he said and called on all citizens of Africa to come together and agree on a joint agenda steered by Africans for Africans.

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