The president of the African Development Bank, Akinwunmi Adesina, has set aside a total of $1.5 billion for a “Emergency Food Production Facility” to enhance food security and sufficiency in Africa.
According to BisinessDay, when Adesina visited Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State on Monday, he paid him a courtesy visit. Adesina remarked that the facility was necessary because of the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which had caused the price of wheat and maize to soar.
Adesina continued by stating that 34 countries will be served by the emergency food production plant, which employed 20 million farmers to produce approximately 38 million metric tons of food worth $12 billion.
He expressed certainty that the conflict in Ukraine will not cause a food crisis in Africa.
Adesina also mentioned that the Feed Africa Summit, which took place in Dakar, Senegal, and was attended by about 34 heads of state, including President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, was able to raise $30 billion in support of an agreement among African nations to deliver food and agricultural products.
“We have worldwide inflation as a result of the Russian-led conflict in Ukraine, which really caused the price of wheat and maize to soar, all over the world. As a result, the impact of that will be pretty catastrophic for our homes, particularly low-income households.
”A $1.5 billion Emergency Food Production Facility that the African Development Bank set up right away is now assisting 34 countries and 20 million farmers in producing about 38 million metric tons of food valued at $12 billion. This facility is currently supporting 20 million farmers in 34 countries.
”We were able to raise $30 billion in favor of a food and agriculture delivery agreement between countries, which will enable African countries to be completely self-sufficient in food. We ought to be able to feed ourselves for the next three to five years; we ought to even be exporting food, among other things”, he stated.
The AfDB President praised Governor Dapo Abiodun for the Agro Cargo Airport project and said that having a cargo airport in the state would help Ogun’s agricultural value chain flourish. The Agro Cargo Airport is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2023.
