Food Security: AfDB, GCA Approve $350m For Africa

African Development Bank (AfDB) and Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA) are rolling out a $350 million project to build resilience for food and nutrition security in the horn of Africa.

Under the African Adaptation Acceleration Programme (AAAP), the Chief Executive Officer, GCA, Prof. Patrick Verkooijen, said the two organisations are rolling out the multi-million dollar project to improve small business resilience for food and nutrition security.

He noted: “This is toward mobilising new digital climate technology for market information, insurance products, and financial services that can and must be tailored to smallholder farmers’ needs.”

Verkooijen spoke at a three-day regional forum on the future of resilient food systems in Africa organised by the GCA and AfDB. The forum urged the Future of Resilient Food Systems in Africa – AAAP Digital Solutions for a Changing Climate provided through training for stakeholders across Eastern Africa. The training strengthened their capacity to design and implement solutions to improve food security and climate resilience. It was also meant to facilitate knowledge sharing among farmers on scaling up the use of Digital Climate-informed Advisory Services (DCAS).

Verkooijen called for urgent financial support to put Africa on the path of food sovereignty.

Globally, more than 300 million small-scale farmers have limited or no access to DCAS because service provision is still fragmented, unsustainable beyond project cycles, and not reaching the last mile.

According to Verkooijen, Africa needs urgent support to scale up the implementation of adaptation solutions. The AfDB’s East Africa Regional Director-General, Nnenna Nwabufo, represented by Dr Pascal Sanginga, the Regional Sector Manager for Agriculture and Agro-Industries, said the forum was timely. The AAAP is already contributing to closing Africa’s adaptation gap by supporting African countries to make a transformational shift in their development pathways.

“It is putting climate adaptation and resilience at the centre of their policies, programmes, and institutions. There is no doubt that AAAP will be a strong component of the country’s Food and Agricultural Delivery Compacts. As it will accelerate the transformation of Africa’s food systems and build a more resilient Africa,” Nwabufo said.