Improving Africa’s food sovereignty is the focus of a summit that kicked off Wednesday in Diamniadio, Senegal. At least 16 heads of state are taking part in the meeting.
It is urgent as climate change, Covid-19 and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict have caused soaring food prices on the continent.
“Africa must learn to feed itself and contribute to feeding the world. We have the potential, we have 1.4 billion inhabitants, established on more than 30 million km² with more than 60% of arable land not exploited To turn our potential into reality, we must allocate at least 10% of the national budget to the agricultural sector,” said Macky Sall, President of Senegal and the African Union.
More than half a century after independence, the continent is still in search of food self-sufficiency. For the Kenyan president, Africa should have passed this stage ages ago.
While the subject, unfortunately, remains topical, the African Development Bank promises to mobilize 10 billion dollars over the next 5 years to support national food sovereignty strategies. They will be presented to donors on Friday.