As part of its efforts to help the continent deal with the issue of escalating food crisis, the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group is helping Mali with its food production efforts. The institution has helped the West African country with the design of an irrigation development project which seeks to improve food security and contribute to reducing poverty in the country.
The project provides for an increase in the use of irrigated land through efficient water management. The project will be carried out in three areas - Maninkoura, Moyen Bani and Djenné – with the first two areas being completed projects consolidation areas. The five-year project comprises four components – agricultural and water infrastructure, rural development, accompanying actions and programme management.
The irrigation development project which is located in the country's rural area is necessary given that the rural area plays a key role in the country's socio-economic development as it provides incomes to 75% of the population. It contributed 36% of GDP in 2003 and accounted for 22% of the country's exports in 2002. Besides, the country's food situation is fragile given that it depends on climatic factors with about 75% of its agriculture being rain-fed.
In the wake of the global food crisis, Bank Group President, Donald Kaberuka, announced that the institution would add US$1 billion to its agricultural portfolio, raising it to US$ 4.8 billion, as part of a short-term action plan to help address the food crisis in its regional member countries. Mr. Kaberuka said the Bank Group would also restructure some of its agriculture portfolio to provide a rapid disbursement facility to the tune of US$ 250 million. He called on cereals-exporting countries not to suspend their exports because the practice would compromise the existence of about 150 million people in a dozen African states, especially people living in fragile states.
In the same vein, the Bank Group's board of governors recently approved the establishment of the African Fertilizer Financing Mechanism Special Fund with a view to mobilizing resources to finance fertilizer production, distribution, procurement and use on the continent. Fertilizer is of strategic importance in the achievement of an African green revolution that will help to roll back hunger and disease in many parts of the continent.
Similarly, the Bank Group and the Nigeria-based International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) recently met in Tunis to explore possibilities of addressing the current global food crisis that has hurt many people across the continent. The retreat came on the heels of a workshop on reviving Africa's agriculture which was recently held in the Tunisian capital. The retreat enabled participants to explore ways of building capacity for agricultural training and research. They also discussed Bank Group assistance to the sector and explored possible areas of collaboration between both institutions with a view to responding to current challenges facing the sector.
The current food crisis is threatening democracy, peace, stability and economic growth on the continent. The rise in grain prices on the global market, leading to widespread rapid increase in domestic food prices, has caused food riots in several African countries. The production shift into bio-fuels and ethanol has also driven up the price of fertilizers, making them well beyond the reach of smallholder farmers. Recent positive economic growth rates recorded by African economies are at risk of being rolled back by these high food prices.
