World Bank, NEPAD partner to strengthen food security

World Bank, NEPAD partner to strengthen food security
Funke Atohengbe, Durban

The World Bank Group and other developing partners have offered strong support to an early action initiative led by the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, NEPAD that would rapidly refocus support to agriculture that strengthens food security as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The early action effort on African Climate Smart Agriculture, put forward in Durban at the UN Climate Change conference, is in response to a call by African governments eager to incorporate climate-smart agriculture systems, techniques and policies into existing national and regional agriculture strategies to strengthen resilience to climate change.

Increasing investment in Agriculture

“As climate change increases it impacts on agriculture, we strongly support African leaders in their efforts to boost action that will help feed Africa and the world,” said World Bank Managing Director, Sri Mulyani Indrawi.
  
Mr Mulyani Indrawi said the World Bank has increased investments in agriculture to an average of one billion dollars a year since 2008.

He said under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, the bank is already working with the African Union to boost yearly public investment in agriculture to ten per cent of the national budget or more in participating countries.

Global food prices remain volatile and have climbed to near-record levels and by 2050, there will be nine billion people in the world according to estimates.

The World Bank says to feed the growing population, agriculture production will need to increase by 70 per cent by 2050.

Williams