President of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina has revealed plans being made to combat the looming food crisis in Africa, mainly as a result of the effect of COVID19 epidemic.
Dr. Adesina, who spoke when he paid a courtesy visit on President Muhammadu Buhari today, April 26, at the Presidential villa, Abuja, also attributed the looming food crisis to negative consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war in terms of food security.
According to him, the Russia-Ukraine war would create global problems and particularly for Africa, which imports a huge percentage of its food from the two countries.
“Already, the price of wheat has gone up about 60%. Maize and other grains will also be affected. There may be fertilizer crisis, as there would be about 2 million metric tons deficit. And that will affect food production by about 20%. Africa will lose $11 billion worth of food, and coming shortly after COVID-19, that would be rather serious.”
The AfDB President said that to prepare against the evil day, the Bank has developed a $1.5 billion Africa Emergency Food Plan, which is now before the bank’s Board for approval.
“We were not ready for COVID-19, but we are now planning to avert food crisis on the continent. There is plan to help farmers cultivate wheat, maize, rice, sorghum, and soybeans. It will mitigate the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war.”
Adesina, who is a former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture, said that in the wet season of 2022, at least five million smallholder farmers would be helped to cultivate one million hectares of maize, one million hectares of rice, and 250,000 hectares of sorghum and soybeans, respectively.
“In total, our support will help Nigeria to produce 9.5 million metric tons of food.”
States that will benefit from the assistance include Kano, Ogun, Oyo, Kaduna, Imo, Cross River, and the Federal Capital Territory.
Dr. Adesina acknowledged that President Buhari has passion for agriculture, saying: “we are behind you strongly, and we want to ensure Nigeria won’t feel the impact of the food crisis.”
President Buhari expressed appreciation to the AfDB boss, who he said understands “our weaknesses and our strengths, and for planning and working ahead.”
“We are very much aware of the need for food security, and to encourage our local farmers; that was why we closed our borders for about two years to curb smuggling. We made some progress.”
