AfDB, GCA Rallies Financial Support for Africa’s Food Sovereignty

Gilbert Ekugbe
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Wangari Mathai Institute, is soliciting for financial support that would put Africa on the right path of food sovereignty.

This was the crux of the just concluded three-day regional forum tagged, “The Future of Resilient Food Systems in Africa– AAAP Digital Solutions for a Changing Climate,” on the future of resilient food systems in Africa.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the forum, the Chief Executive Officer, GCA, Professor Patrick Verkooijen, said that Africa is in need of urgent support to scale up the implementation of adaptation solutions that are already yielding good results for irrigation, developing drought-resistant seeds, crops and livestock diversification.

He added that through the African Adaptation Acceleration Programme, (AAAP), it will be rolling out a $350 million project to build resilience for food and nutrition security in the Horn of Africa towards mobilising new digital climate technology for market information, insurance products, financial services that can and must be tailored to smallholder farmers’ needs.

The AfDB’s East Africa Regional Director General, Ms. Nnenna Nwabufo, who was represented by the Regional Sector Manager for Agriculture and Agro-Industries, Dr. Pascal Sanginga, noted that the forum was timely, coming hot on the heels of the recently concluded Dakar 2 Feed Africa-Food Sovereignty and Resilience summit, that was organised by the AfDB.

Nwabufo noted that the AAAP is already contributing to closing Africa’s adaptation gap by supporting African countries to make a transformational shift in their development pathways by putting climate adaptation and resilience at the center of their policies, programmes and institutions.
“There is no doubt that AAAP will be a strong component of the Country Food and Agricultural Delivery Compacts to accelerate the transformation of Africa’s food systems and build a more resilient Africa,” she said.

On his part, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nairobi, Professor Stephen Kiama Gitahi, reiterated the relevance of the forum and pointed out that 70 per cent of the population in Eastern Africa live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Gitahi encouraged the trainers to simplify the modules in a manner that removes the fear for technology and accelerate adaptation for rural farmers.
He also acknowledged the legacy of late Professor Wangari Maathai. “We acknowledge that gaps exist on climate adaptation in the rural communities and those can be smartly bridged with the use of digital smart agriculture and climate innovations to create great conservation impact in our region,” he said.