Akinwumi Adesina (picture), president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has revealed last Oct. 19, on the sidelines of the 2017 World Food Prize in US, the new strategy of his institution to develop Africa’s agriculture.

Entitled “Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation-TAAT”, the strategy aims to modernize Africa’s agriculture through the development and large-scale distribution of appropriate technologies for agricultural productivity.

It will focus mainly on livestock, food crops (rice, maize, soya, yam, groundnuts, cowpea, and sorghum) as well as on major African export products (cocoa, cashew, palm oil, flowers, and coffee).  

Also, the initiative should lead to the concretization of 655 carefully considered action while allowing for the production of 513 million tons of food, thus helping about 250 million Africans get out of poverty by 2025.

“TAAT was born out of this major consultation and brings together global players in agriculture, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, World Food Programme, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, Rockefeller Foundation and national and regional agricultural research systems. It’s the biggest consolidation of efforts to accelerate agriculture technology uptake in Africa,” said M. Adesina.

Let it be emphasized that the new roadmap supports the 2016-2025 Feed Africa Strategy of the financial institution, aiming to also transform the African agriculture.

Espoir Olodo