The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), have pledged the sum of $244 million dollars for emergency food production in Nigeria.
The President of the AfDB, Dr Akinwumi Adesina disclosed this at the inauguration of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones in Abuja.
He said, “The bank’s African Emergency Food Production Facility provided 134 million dollars, while JICA provided 110 million dollars.
“I would like to thank the Japanese International Development Agency (JICA) for co-financing this with an additional 110 million dollars.
“That means we collectively made available 244 million dollars for emergency food production in Nigeria. There was a need for greater action, responsiveness, and delivery to avert a food crisis in the country.
“Agriculture is critical for the survival of any nation. The most important role of any nation is to feed its people. Food is a fundamental human right. Transforming agriculture must start with recognizing that agriculture is a business, a wealth-creating sector, not just a way of life.
“Unlocking wealth in agriculture requires the provision of appropriate technologies to boost productivity, development of agricultural value chains, financial structure to support agricultural value chains, and investments in infrastructure to unlock investments by food and agribusinesses.
“That is why the African Development Bank has inaugurated the development of Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs).”
