The president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Adesina Akinwumi has said that the financial institution will allocate up to $10 billion for agricultural development and food sovereignty in Africa.Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Food summit in Dakar, Senegal, Dr Adesina said: “Africa can and should contribute to feeding the world. The potential is great, but no one is eating it.”

“It is time for the continent to be supported to help feed the world. The AfDB will commit US$10 billion to Africa over the next few years,” he said.

The funding, expected to cover the next five years, would be based on direct support in the delivery of agricultural and food inputs, according to a statement obtained by APA Thursday in Kigali.

“The time for action has come,” Akinwumi told a packed audience including some 20 heads of state and government who are participating along with other actors in the financial and agricultural sectors.

The summit under the theme ‘Feed Africa: Food sovereignty and resilience’, comes amid supply chain disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, as well as Russia-Ukraine crisis.

While presiding over the summit, Senegal President Macky Sall, who is also the African Union chairperson, said the time had come for the continent to feed itself by adding value and stepping up the use of technology.

“From the farm to the plate, we need full food sovereignty, and we must increase land under cultivation and market access to enhance cross-border trade.”

The chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, cited similar sentiments, pointing out that the 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 told the gathering. He urged development partners to work together within existing structures, such as Agenda 2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area, for sustainable transformation.

Mahamat commended the AfDB for rolling out transformative initiatives, including a $1.5 billion emergency food production facility in 2022 to help African countries avert a potential food crisis following the Russia-Ukraine crisis.