AfDB to Boost Food Production

The African Development Bank( AfDB) has developed a new initiative called the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation( TA AT) initiative–a knowledge and innovation-based response to the recognised need of scaling up proven technologies across Africa. Already ,25 African countries have written letters to the AfDB confirming their interest and readiness to participate in TA AT, and help transform their agriculture. It is expected to support AfDB’ s Feed Africa Strategy for the continent to eliminate the current massive importation of food and transform its economies by targeting agriculture as a major source of economic diversification and wealth, as well as a powerful engine for job creation. The initiative would implement 655 carefully considered actions that should result in almost 513 million tons of additional food production and lift nearly 250 million Africans out of poverty by 2025. TAAT will execute bold plans to contribute to a rapid agricultural transformation across Africa through raising agricultural productivity along eight Priority Intervention Areas( PI As ). The commodities value chains to benefit from this initiative are rice, cassava, pearl mill et, sorghum, groundnut, cowpea, livestock, maize, soya bean, yam, cocoa, coffee, cashew, oil palm, horticulture, beans, wheat and fish. “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 ,” AfDB President, A kin wu mi Adesina said.