By Tochukwu Bliss, Abuja
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group and the World Bank have stressed the need for more global action against hunger, a goal slipping further away due to the combined effects of conflict, economic challenges and climate change.
AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina, and his World Bank counterpart, Ajay Banga, gave the charge in a powerful opening to the 2024 Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, according to a statement, on the AfDB’s website.
The two leaders were guest speakers at the opening plenary on Tuesday, tagged: “Achieving a Hunger-Free World,” at which they reiterated their institutions’ commitments to ending food insecurity in Africa, highlighting innovative partnerships and financial solutions.
Dr. Adesina was quoted as saying: “There is nothing more important than feeding the world. Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) play an important role in that.”
He stressed the crucial role of international financial institutions in helping to achieve this task.
Interviewed by Roger Thurow, senior fellow for global agriculture at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Adesina and Banga discussed the transformative actions from MDBs in meeting Africa’s annual $1.3 trillion development needs.
Giving examples of innovative instruments to stretch balance sheets, Mr. Adesina said International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Drawing Rights or SDRs, if channeled through MDBs, could enable them to become leveraging machines, multiplying resources up to eight times.
“And that’s how you recycle capital to do all the things you need. Think of that,” he said.
Mr. Banga praised Mr. Adesina’s leadership and expressed confidence in joint initiatives like “Mission 300,” an ambitious project to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.
“When you want to solve a problem, you work in partnership,” Mr. Adesina stated, lauding Mr. Banga’s collaborative spirit.
Both leaders highlighted the urgency of engaging Africa’s youth in agriculture. The AfDB’s “Enable Youth” program and the World Bank’s focus on youth employment initiatives, reflect a shared commitment to harnessing Africa’s demographic dividend for agricultural transformation and economic prosperity.
“If we don’t put finance behind young people’s ideas, that’s the biggest risk,” Mr. Adesina warned.
The AfDB’s “Enable Youth” program and the World Bank’s focus on youth employment initiatives, reflect a shared commitment to harnessing Africa’s demographic dividend for agricultural transformation and economic prosperity.
Fight for food security.
The 2024 Borlaug Dialogue, hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation, gathers experts worldwide to inspire innovative solutions to global hunger.
With this year’s theme, “Seeds of Opportunity, Bridging Generations and Cultivating Diplomacy,” the event champions collaboration, legacy, and hope in the fight for food security.
Mr. Adesina also underlined the importance of partnerships such as the G20’s Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty of which the AfDB and the World Bank are partnering.
The campaign will see SDRs channeled through MDBs to fight hunger. He cited Mission 300, a joint initiative by the World Bank and the AfDB to connect 300 million people in Africa to electricity by 2030, as another example of MDB cooperation.
Mr. Banga stated his confidence in Mr. Adesina’s leadership for initiatives like M300: “We have six years to get it done,” he said.
Addressing climate change
Addressing the topic of climate change and farmers’ livelihoods Mr. Banga noted that in Africa, only 4% of global climate financing goes to agriculture.
He stressed the need for scalable solutions to support Africa’s small farmers.
He said: “The focus must be on scale and ecosystems,” he said, pointing to the World Bank’s efforts to enhance farmers’ access to energy, internet, and credit guarantees, creating a comprehensive support network.
“The World Bank is putting the demographic dividend of Africa’s youth population to the fore by making job creation a specific outcome of all its development work, along six specific pillars.”
Earlier, the Chief Operating Officer for the World Food Prize Foundation, Mashal Husain, said this year’s Borlaug dialogue theme, pointed to a world of potential to achieve the goal of ending hunger worldwide.
“That seed represents hope, innovation and courage to dream. This week at the Borlaug Dialogue we are not just talking about the seeds of opportunity. We are planting them,” Mr. Husain said.
