Food security: Gambia secures $9m loan from AfDB

NaijaAgroNet:

The Gambian government has signed a USD 9 million loan agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, to finance an agriculture value chains project, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The acting Vice-President, Sector Operations, AfDB, Kapil Kapoor, who signed the agreement for the bank, said that project which involves the production, processing and storage of or rice and livestock, will improve food security and create jobs.

He also said that the project is aligned with the bank’s High-5 priorities, especially the Feed Africa component, stressing that the government would implement the project as quickly as possible in line with the bank's new accelerated projects and programmes delivery approach.

In response, the Gambian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister, Abdou Kolley, who signed the agreement for his country, thanked the bank for the support, and said the project will go a long way toward the realization of his county's food self-sufficiency goal and promised that the government would work hard to reduce bottlenecks which cause delays in the projects implementation.

The Agriculture Value Chains Development Project (AVCDP) which was approved in March 2016, seeks to increase, on a sustainable basis, the income of rural producers, entrepreneurs engaged in the production, processing, storage and marketing of rice and livestock. It will also create shared wealth and jobs.

Okoli Vincent/GEE

 
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Access to food, a fundamental right says Adeshina

NaijaAgroNet:

The president of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina has stated that access to food in quantity and quality is a fundamental human right, NaijaAgroNet reports.

He emphasised the importance of agriculture and food security to the growth and development of Africa. “People eat food. Access to food in quantity and quality is a fundamental human right. Just few weeks ago at the United Nations General Assembly, the world took a bold decision to approve the Sustainable Development Goals. In my meeting with the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, he told me: ‘The SDGs must succeed in Africa. If they do not succeed there, they cannot be said to have succeeded’.

Adeshina, NaijaAgroNet  gathered, was speaking at a high level conference on agricultural transformation themed ‘Feeding Africa.’ He said nothing is more important than food, adding that while Africa had risen on the back of new discoveries of oil and gas fields, in reality, no one eats oil or gas.

“The other side of the trajectory, which we must face, is that the growth process is highly unequal. Africa has today, one of the highest inequalities in the world. Over 400 million live on less than one dollar per day.

“While poverty rates have fallen in Africa, the absolute number of the poor has increased, and Africa is the only region where the absolute number of the poor increased in the world,” he said.
He maintained that Africa must rise up and unlock its full agricultural potential, adding that with all its bright sunshine, abundant water resources and cheap labour, Africa should be a global powerhouse in food and agriculture, NaijaAgroNet learnt.

“Africa cannot eat potential and there is no market for selling potential. In Nigeria, we unlocked that potential when I was minister of agriculture. This convinces me that agricultural transformation can occur in a very short period of time. The Agricultural Transformation Agenda which implemented wide-ranging reforms with sharp focus on the private sector-led input delivery systems, value chain development and financing systems, led to an increase of 21 million metric tonnes in food production within three years. The food import bill in the country fell from an all-time high of $11 billion, about N2.18 trillion in 2009 to $3.2 billion, about N636. 96 billion by 2014,” he added.

Cyriacus Nnaji with additional report from Leadership/GEE

 
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AfDB advocates ‘polluter pays’ principle

NaijaAgroNet:

The President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has affirmed the bank’s readiness to champion the implementation of the ‘polluter pays’ principle, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The principle is an environmental law enacted to make the party responsible for producing pollution to pay for the damage done to the natural environment. Adesina added that the bank will work with member countries and partners to support governance reforms, continental risk transfer and risk-sharing schemes. In addition, they will build institutions that will support greater social and economic resilience in the face of climate change.

The AfDB president was addressing a delegation of ministers representing more than 40 nations in Paris to push for a ‘New Deal on Energy in Africa’ to solve Africa’s energy crisis.

Adesina, NaijaAgroNet gathered, also called for strong political will, sharply focused partnerships and ambitious financing programmes to address climate and its impact on the millions of people whose livelihoods are under threat.

“We need to support initiatives that address risks associated with climate change, and build disaster-response capacity and recovery programmes for those who are most affected.
“This includes building their assets, providing catastrophic bonds, weather index insurance schemes, and crop/livestock insurance for farmers and rural populations, he stated.”

The AfDB president also held bilateral talks with Laurent Fabius and Helene Le Gal, Adviser to the President of France, and senior officials of the Agence Française de Développement to discuss strategic partnerships between the Bank and France, NajiaAgroNet learnt.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Africa’s 200m youth population predicted to double by 2045

ITRealms
 
 Africa’s youth population, those between the age of 15 and 24 which is currently put at about 200 million, has been predicted to double by the year 2045.

NaijaAgroNet reports that the African Development Bank (ADB) is therefore working on providing the youth with the skills, education and jobs they need to secure their future.

This was coming as part of effort to mark this year’s International Youth Day, August 12, even as the AfDB celebrates and recognizes the importance of African youth.

The former President, ADB, Dr. Donald Kaberuka recently said, "Population growth in regions such as the Sahel remains very high, as high as 3.9 per cent, while internal migration has accelerated with up to 40 per cent of people now living in unplanned, poorly equipped cities and towns, amidst squalor and unemployment. As a result, young people - around 15 million of who enter the labour market each year - cannot find jobs, either because few are available, or because their skills do not match the needs."

"And in some regions, as they cannot find jobs or see hope for the future, they become easy victims to terrorist groups, or human traffickers promising them imaginary El Dorados, only for them to perish in the Mediterranean," Kaberuka added.

A proposed project, ENABLE Youth (Empowering Novel Agri-Business-Led Employment for Youth in African Agriculture), is another initiative through which the AfDB seeks to reach out to close to 800,000 youth in 20 countries in southern, eastern and western Africa regions. The programme will be designed to appeal to disenfranchised young African adults through a comprehensive outreach approach that will see them receive life-skills education (effective and functional job training) and information on proven technologies and opportunities.

The programme will also come with 20,000 internships, 10,000 agribusiness startups, and 30,000 new jobs in rural and urban areas, leading to incomes of at least US $450 about N96, 750 per month.

In addition to supporting agriculture, the Bank is offering assistance to initiatives aimed at improving the education sector to provide skills required in the labour market. The AfDB and its development partners also recognize the role of the informal sector in providing jobs and livelihoods for the most vulnerable populations, including youth.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ED,OPs

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 Pix: Dr. Donald Kaberuka

IFRC, AfDB sign MOU on food security, disaster risk reduction

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Tunis aimed at providing assistance to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in Africa.

The MoU between the two organizations, NaijaAgroNet was informed, specifically outlines several areas of potential collaboration, including climate change, health care, food security, disaster risk reduction, youth development, and water and sanitation.

The IFRC Secretary General, Bekele Geleta, said that with drought currently affecting parts of southern Africa and many people in the Sahel region coping with flooding, it is imperative that they form strategic partnerships with local actors to help address recurring challenges.

Referring to the successful outcomes of the recent African Development Fund (ADF) negotiations in Paris, African Development Bank Group President Donald Kaberuka highlighted the Bank’s commitment to fragile states and stressed the need for greater urgency to address food insecurity and flooding that affects millions of people across the continent.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the IFRC is the world’s largest volunteer-based humanitarian network, reaching 150 million people each year through its 187 member national societies, while the AfDB is to spur sustainable economic development and social progress in its 54 regional member countries (RMCs), thus contributing to poverty reduction.

*With additional report from African Press Organization

 NaijaAgroNet

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World Bank, ADB, IFAD boost agriculture with N200.3bn

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the African Development Bank (ADB) have approved $1.23 billion, about N200.3bn to boost food production in Nigeria, according to the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Dr Akinwumi Adesina.

 

He disclosed this NaijaAgroNet in Abuja, during a press meeting on the activities of the ministry, saying that $900 million was approved by the World Bank, $250 million by ADB and $80 million by IFAD.   

He explained that the international community is rallying round government’s effort, saying that $500 million of $900 million obtained from the World Bank was meant for agriculture, while $400 million would support water and irrigation projects.

‘‘As you know, the World Bank has agreed to invest $900 million behind agricultural transformation in Nigeria, $500 million for agriculture and $400 million for water and irrigation. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), their board has approved the release of $80 million to Nigeria to support the agricultural transformation going on in Nigeria. The African Development Bank is considering $250 million in support of the transformation agenda on agriculture,” he said.

He further disclosed that American billionaire and philanthropist, Bill Gates, has agreed to co-opt with the eminent persons group to advise President Goodluck Jonathan on matters concerning agriculture and health in the country.

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