The African Development Bank (AFDB) has concluded plans to deploy over $20B to fight the drought-related crisis and boost food production in Nigeria, South Sudan, Kenya and Somalia. The President of AFDB, Akinwumi Adesina who made the disclosure in a statement ahead of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought lamented that about 20 million people were facing food insecurity and malnutrition across drought-affected areas including Nigeria and Somalia.
He maintained that the bank has already deployed resources to address this challenge and was exploring other modalities to effectively boost food production in these countries. "The Bank has committed $24 billion towards agriculture in the next 10 years, with a sharp focus on food self-sufficiency and agricultural industrialization.
The recent drought and famine facing some countries (South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda) deserve swift action, as 20 million face food insecurity and severe malnutrition.”
The AFDB President expressed readiness to partner relevant government and agencies in the implementation of the Drought Resilience Sustainable Livelihood Support Programme (DRSLP).
The programme according to him was launched in 2013 to address the underlying "causes of vulnerability in drought-prone areas, with particular emphasis on pastoralists and agro-pastoralists to promote disaster risk reduction, ecosystem rehabilitation and sustainable livelihood base transformational and developmental practices".
The programme also seeks to facilitate the provision of requisite infrastructure to reduce and minimize the recurrent drought.
