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With food insecurity and geopolitical tensions growing and climate change accelerating, Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) highlighted IFAD’s role in supporting deeper AU-EU collaboration to make Africa’s food systems more sustainable, resilient and fairer for the food producers.
Lario was speaking at the 6th African Union (AU) – European Union (EU) Agriculture Ministerial Conference which brought agriculture Ministers from Africa and Europe together in Rome today to discuss actional ways to strengthen both continents’ agri-food systems and explore synergies between them.
“The food systems of Europe and Africa are deeply interlinked. Our futures are connected—economically, environmentally, and socially,” said Lario. “IFAD is ready to act as a bridge—to connect resources, institutions, and ideas from both sides of the Mediterranean.
Together, the AU, EU, and IFAD can lead the transformation of African agriculture so it becomes a vehicle for sustainable and inclusive growth.”
While Africa faces challenges feeding its growing population with one African in five suffering from hunger, the agri-food sector also has a huge potential for growth. Under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, African agriculture is projected to generate US$1 trillion in agribusiness by 2030.
In this context, Africa’s 33-50 million smallholder farms, which provide livelihoods to hundreds of millions of people, play a pivotal role in the continent’s economy and food systems.
With greater investment, Africa has huge potential to grow more and more diverse food, increase small agribusinesses, provide jobs for youth, and contribute to healthy diets and rural and national economies.
