1 min read

Africa Requires $614bn to Tackle Food Insecurity – IFAD

By Dare Akogun

 

The International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD has stated that the Africa continent needs a cumulative sum of $614bn by 2030 to address its rising challenge of food insecurity and transform the food system.

 

The Associate Vice President for External Relations and Governance, IFAD, Satu Santala, gave the inddication in a recent report titled “Financing food systems resilience in Africa: A starting point for transformation”.

 

He called for more finance and investments in Africa’s food systems, innovations that reorient towards fairer outcomes, create jobs and harness the potential of Africa’s youth.

 

According to him, in the wake of the war in Ukraine, IFAD launched a Crisis Response Initiative to protect the livelihoods and productive assets of small-scale farmers.

 

“Bringing more and fairer investments into African food systems requires innovation and commitments from governments, the private sector, and international partners.

 

“This is where I see room for leaders to focus their attention. New research indicates that transforming African food systems is estimated to require $77bn a year until 2030–$614bn in total,” he explained.

 

Santala noted that the demand for IFAD’s work and financing was far greater than the level of commitment.

 

He revealed that IFAD would be presenting the investment case to its member states later this year to scale up through the fund’s next replenishment.

 

“By taking a medium- to long-term development perspective, leaders can target the root, underlying causes of food insecurity and build resilience to future shocks.

 

“Doing this successfully in Africa would be a huge step in ending global hunger and transforming food systems globally. IFAD will continue to champion this cause,” he reiterated.

 

He added that IFAD emphasised that one of the major factors causing the fragility of Africa’s food systems and the pressing need for increased investment in food security was the effect of global shocks.

 

 

Dare Akogun

Dare Akogun is a dynamic media innovator, strategic communication professional, and seasoned climate and environmental sustainability journalist with over 10 years of influential contributions to the media industry.

He Currently serving as the Head of Digital Media, Senior News Editor, and a presenter at Sobi FM 101.9, a leading radio station in Ilorin, Nigeria.

Dare is on a mission to leverage his media innovation expertise and project management skills to produce high-quality, accurate, and engaging content, while advocating for reduced fossil fuel consumption, especially coal, to combat effect of global warming.

He has covered comprehensively environmental issues and COP conferences, including COP28 in Dubai last year , COP 27 in Egypt, and the United Nations Least Developed Countries conference in Doha, in 2023.

He is a recipient of fellowship to be part of a 15 team of journalists selected worldwide to cover the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue 2024.

He has a Master's Degree in Mass Communication, from the University of Lagos, a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from the Lagos State University and also a
Certification in Business Administration and Management, from the Babson College, Massachusetts, United States of America.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Previous Story

Nigeria Benefits From World Bank $12 Billion Food Relief Fund

Next Story

Just In: Old N200, N500, N1,000 Notes Remain Legal Tender Till Dec 31 – CBN