Cape Town – African heads of state and governments, together with development partners, will gather in Senegal to strategically map plans to unlock Africa’s food-producing potential and position the continent to become a breadbasket to the world.
The continent is home to a third of the world’s 850 million people living with hunger, but has more than 60% of the world’s remaining arable land.
Senegalese President Macky Sall, chairperson of the AU, will host the three-day Dakar II Food summit from January 25, with the African Development Bank Group as co-host.
The agenda of the summit takes place under the theme, “Feed Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience.”
The gathering will showcase programmes already contributing to African food sovereignty and resilience.
This includes the African Development Bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) platform, which is delivering heat-tolerant wheat, drought-tolerant maize, and high-yield rice seeds to 11 million African farmers in 21 countries.
According to Dr Martin Fregene, director for Agriculture and Agro-Industry at the African Development Bank, TAAT will produce 100 million metric tons of additional food to feed 200 million people.
“We know what works in Africa. Taking agricultural technology programmes like TAAT to scale does more than boost agricultural outputs. It increases wealth, creates jobs and opens our markets up to regional and international trade. It is critical to support these efforts. Africa stands to gain – the world stands to gain – from such a concerted effort,” he said.
African Development Bank Group president Dr Akinwumi A Adesina added: “This is the time to invest in Africa’s future. The continent has more than 60% of the world’s remaining arable land, and millions of Africans are productive in the agriculture sector. With the removal of barriers to agricultural development aided by new investments, it is estimated that Africa’s agricultural output could increase from $280 billion (R4.8 trillion) a year to $1 trillion by 2030.”
Cape Times