With about 60% arable land at its disposal, Africa needs to learn to feed itself and contribute towards feeding the world. These were the words of the President of the Republic of Senegal, Macky Sall, at this year’s Dakar 2 Feed Africa Summit.
The three-day summit, hosted by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) under the theme “Food Sovereignty and Resilience”, brought together governments, the private sector, multilateral organisations, NGOs and scientists to meet the escalating challenge of food security in Africa.
“Africa needs to learn to feed itself and contribute to feeding the world,” said Sall. “We have the potential, with around 60% of arable land here that is not exploited. It is paradoxical that we still need to import the essentials of what we need.”
‘It’s time for Africa to feed Africa’
Global leaders took the stage to speak about pressing issues pertaining to food security, and international relations with the USA, EU, and Britain. Decreasing food security was the main topic as global leaders urged political powers to develop partner support and encouraged the private sector to invest in agricultural efforts.
Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Mahamat, said the Dakar summit was timely and would provide innovative solutions to help Africa become less dependent on food imports.
“Food sovereignty should be our new weapon of freedom,” Mahamat said. Addressing the audience, he urged development partners to work together within existing structures, such as Agenda 2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area for sustainable transformation.
“It is time for Africa to feed Africa,” said AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina. In one of the sessions, Adesina pointed out that African countries spent about $70bn annually on food imports. In an effort to significantly lower this number, the bank has committed itself to $10bn over the next five years in an effort to support development in food and agriculture.
The AfDB and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) also teamed up to help 40 million African farmers through a new initiative that is expected to double productivity and produce 100 million metric tons of food for 200 million people.
Both organisations agreed to launch the initiative named “Mission 1 for 200”. The initiative aims to build resilience by helping food systems and farmers adapt to climate change, and reducing agriculture’s environmental impact and emissions.
Africa’s food insecurity
Sall urged countries to adhere to the 2003 Maputo declaration on agriculture, which calls on African states to allocate 10% of their national budgets to agricultural development.
Secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, connected the dots between climate change and food security, claiming that Africa’s food production systems need to work best in improving mechanisation, which will ultimately lead to employment and youth.
“Without urgent attention, the global fertiliser problem will lead to an urgent global food shortage issue,” he said. “African importers will face particular obstacles including high fertiliser prices, availability of vessels, foreign exchange shortage and lack of access to affordable financing.”
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