The African Development Bank has recently pledged its support to young agriculturist across the region. Principal Agricultural Economist Mr. Edson Mpyisi disclosed the AFDB’s plans to set up a fund that will cater for small agricultural businesses owned by young African beginners.
According to Mr. Edson Mpyisi, the fund which is called “Youth Agripreneurial Fund” will provide seed capital at a low-interest rate to address challenges in the sector.
This initiative is very important to the AFDB given that access to funds has been a major limitation in agribusiness.
He also mentioned the other plans of the bank toward developing the African youth agribusiness, including African Green Revolution Forum which is set to hold in September from 4 to 8 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast with the theme “ Accelerating Africa’s Path to Prosperity: Growing Inclusion Economics and Jobs through Agriculture”.
He ended by acknowledging the importance of the partnership of development partners to promote the agricultural sector, moving it from local and traditional farming to real business venture, with the claims that the success of the economy of many developed countries is tied to the fact that they placed much priority on their agricultural sector.
