The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has warned that Africa will need a cumulative $614 billion by 2030 to confront rising food insecurity and transform its food system. In a report titled “Financing food systems resilience in Africa: A starting point for transformation,” IFAD’s Associate Vice President for External Relations and Governance, Satu Santala, called for increased financing and investment in African food systems, emphasizing innovations that promote fairer outcomes, create jobs, and harness the continent’s youthful potential.
Santala noted that, in response to the war in Ukraine, IFAD launched a Crisis Response Initiative to protect the livelihoods and productive assets of small‑scale farmers. She stressed that bringing more equitable investments into African food systems requires innovation and commitments from governments, the private sector, and international partners. New research estimates that transforming African food systems will require $77 billion a year through 2030—$614 billion in total. However, the demand for IFAD’s work and financing far exceeds current commitments. IFAD plans to present its investment case to member states later this year to scale up funding through the next replenishment.
Adopting a medium‑ to long‑term development perspective, Santala argued, allows leaders to address the root causes of food insecurity and build resilience to future shocks. Success in Africa would represent a major step toward ending global hunger and transforming food systems worldwide, a cause IFAD will continue to champion. She highlighted that global shocks—particularly the war in Ukraine and worsening climate change—have intensified Africa’s food‑system fragility. The continent, which already had more than one in five people chronically under‑nourished in 2021, now faces projected doublings of food, fuel, and fertilizer prices compared with 2021, threatening both current food security and future recovery.
Small farms, which make up the vast majority of African farms and are typically under two hectares, produce most of the food consumed by the continent’s most vulnerable populations. While humanitarian responses are essential, they are not a long‑term solution. The gap between financing for long‑term resilience and short‑term emergency assistance is widening, undermining poor rural peoples’ ability to cope with future shocks. Addressing the underlying drivers of food insecurity is crucial to prevent recurring crises and to unlock Africa’s significant potential to feed itself and others.
IFAD’s studies show that investment in agriculture reduces poverty more effectively than investment in any other sector. On the ground, the Fund observes that fair and sustainable food‑system investments can transform small‑scale farms into sustainable agribusinesses, building local production capacity and enhancing Africa’s food sovereignty. Such development creates jobs along the value chain—particularly in processing, transport, and marketing—and fosters thriving rural economies that offer decent work. When livelihoods improve, migration becomes a choice rather than a necessity, laying the foundation for greater resilience and peace. IFAD is advancing innovations in food‑system financing, collaborating with the World Bank and scaling up partnerships with the Green Climate Fund.
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