Africa: At Africa Food Systems Forum, African Development Bank, African Ministers Call for Push Toward Market-Driven Growth

Government ministers and development partners convened in Kigali for the Africa Food Systems Forum to evaluate the African Emergency Food Production Facility and discuss its future. The $1.5 billion facility, approved in May 2022, provided critical agricultural support to 20 million smallholder farmers across Africa, helping to prevent food shortages.

During the session, Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari, highlighted the need for market-driven growth, emphasizing that a food system reliant on emergency interventions is not yet resilient. He suggested that diversifying food sources, building financing architecture, and managing food reserves transparently are crucial steps towards resilience.

Other African leaders, such as Côte d'Ivoire's Minister Delegate in charge of Food Crop Production, Bernard Kini Comoé, and the Central African Republic's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Emmanuel Mbetide Bessane, shared success stories of Bank-financed projects that improved farmer access to fertilizers and seeds, boosting yields.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Vice President, Seisuke Inoue, stressed the importance of treating food system preparedness as an investment in public goods, citing irrigation, extension services, and partnerships like the Coalition for African Rice Development as examples of successful investments. The event also showcased the Facility's achievements, with Dr. Innocent Musabyimana, Bank Group Chief Agricultural Technologies Officer, reporting that it had reached nearly 15 million farmers, produced 45 million metric tons of food, and delivered over 400,000 metric tons of certified seed and 3 million metric tons of fertilizers.

Brief written by urgent.news from AllAfrica's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.