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Twenty million African smallholding farmers will benefit from the US $1.5 billion facilities approved by the AfDB Board
The African Development Bank (AfDB) board approved a US$1.5 billion facility targeted at marginal farmers in the continent. The project is aimed at augmenting the food production by 38 million to wipe out the deficit, to some extent. It is likely to benefit 20 million small farmers, who do not have enough access to certified seeds and fertilizers, among other things.
As reported by www.trendsnafrica.com, presently the continent is facing a threat of food deficit, which is aggravated by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war that disrupted the supply sources. For most of the countries which import food in Africa, Ukraine and Russia are the main sources. The estimate is that in two years’ time, the food production will increase in value by US$12 billion in lieu of the project, which some analysts feel is too ambitious a target given the constraints the continent’s farmers are facing. The average size of landholding is too small to switch over to modern farming. Also, the cash-strapped farmers refuse to adopt modern farming, which is capital intensive and necessitated by the use of technology and mechanization.
The price of wheat has soared in Africa by over 45 percent since the war in Ukraine began. www.trendsnafrica.com, has carried a detailed report on how the war had affected the food supply of some of the countries in the region. The fertilizer prices have gone up by 300% and the shortage is around 2 million metric tons. If urgent measures are not taken to arrest this deficit, food production in Africa may drop by at least 20% and the continent could lose over US$11 billion in food production in value terms. It is a paradox that Africa gifted in general with fertile soil is lagging in agricultural production.
Africa is now staring at a shortage of at least 30 million metric tons of food, especially wheat, maize, and soybeans mostly imported from Russia or Ukraine.
Also read:
https://trendsnafrica.com/covid-conflicts-climate-crisis-a-perfect-storm-in-the-making/
https://trendsnafrica.com/russia-ukraine-war-and-its-fallout-on-africa/
Before the launch of the project, there have been consultations at various levels. Akinwumi Adesina AfDB group president said that the African Emergency Food Production Facility, the special vertical addressing the agriculture-related issues of the continent, has collected inputs from stakeholders including fertilizer producers before the launch of the project. Importantly, African Union agriculture and finance ministers were consulted earlier this month to ascertain their views on the subjects since the project also impinges on the critical policy reforms of individual states.
