Do not overlook Africa’s trillion-dollar food and agribusiness sector — AfDB President

Dr Akinwumi Adesina, African Development Bank President, says Africa’s food and agribusiness will be worth an estimated US$1 trillion by 2030.

He told participants at the World Food Prize Foundation’s Norman E. Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa that several world leaders are actively bolstering food production and food security in Africa.

The annual event in America’s agricultural heartland revolved around this year’s theme of “harnessing change,” with delegates and panelists exploring innovative ideas to shore up innovation, adaptation, and diversification, and mechanisms for improving resilience, recovery from shocks, and sustainable systems to feed the world.

This includes coming together for a landmark global Feed Africa summit in Dakar (the Dakar 2 Summit) last January.

He said the continent, which was home to 65 percent of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land, ironically imports most of its food.

He said African leaders were intent on ensuring that their countries were self-sufficient in food and become food exporters.

“There is a realisation that by 2050, the global population will reach nine billion, creating a pressing need for Africa to increase agricultural productivity to meet rising demands for food,” he added.