African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina says Africa must prepare for the inevitability of a global food crisis.
He gave the warning while speaking about Africa’s priorities, as a guest at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center on over the weekend.
Fielding questions from the Council’s Africa Center Chair, Ambassador Rama Yade; Senior Fellow Aubrey Hruby; and Washington/UN correspondent for Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report, Julian Pecquet, the Bank chief called for an increased sense of urgency amid what he described as a once-in-a-century convergence of global challenges for Africa.
According to Adesina, the continent’s most vulnerable countries had been hit hardest by conflict, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, which had upended economic and development progress in Africa. He said Africa, with the lowest GDP growth rates, had lost as many as 30 million jobs on account of the pandemic.
Speaking about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, Adesina expressed sympathy for the people of Ukraine, describing their suffering as unimaginable.
He said the war’s ramifications spread far beyond Ukraine to other parts of the world, including Africa.
He explained that Russia and Ukraine supply 30% of global wheat exports, the price of which has surged by almost 50% globally, reaching identical levels as during the 2008 global food crisis. He added that fertilizer prices had tripled, and energy prices had increased, all fueling inflation.
Adesina warned that the tripling costs of fertilizer, rising energy prices, and rising costs of food baskets, could worsen in Africa in the coming months.
He noted that 90% of Russia’s $4 billion exports to Africa in 2020 was made up of wheat; and 48% of Ukraine’s near $3 billion exports to the continent was made of wheat and 31% of maize.
Adesina cautioned that to fend off a food crisis, Africa must rapidly expand its food production.
“The African Development Bank (AfDB) is already active in mitigating the effects of a food crisis through the African Food Crisis Response and Emergency Facility a dedicated facility being considered by the Bank to provide African countries with the resources needed to raise local food production and procure fertilizer.
“My basic principle,” Adesina said, “is that Africa should not be begging. We must solve our own challenges ourselves without depending on others.”
