In what looks like a remarkable opening to the 2024 Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, the president of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, and his counterpart at the World Bank, Ajay Banga, stressed the need for more global action against hunger, a goal slipping further away due to the combined effects of conflict, economic challenges and climate change.
The two leaders were guest speakers at the opening plenary on Tuesday, October 29, entitled “Achieving a Hunger-Free World,” at which they reiterated their institutions’ commitments to ending food insecurity in Africa, highlighting innovative partnerships and financial solutions.
“There is nothing more important than feeding the world. Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) play an important role in that,” Adesina declared. He stressed the crucial role of international financial institutions in helping achieve this task.
Interviewed by Roger Thurow, senior fellow for global agriculture at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Adesina and Banga discussed the transformative actions from MDBs in meeting Africa’s annual $1.3 trillion development needs.
Giving examples of innovative instruments to stretch balance sheets, Adesina said International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Drawing Rights or SDRs, if channeled through MDBs, could enable them to become leveraging machines, multiplying resources up to eight times.
“And that’s how you recycle capital to do all the things you need. Think of that,” he said.
Banga praised Adesina’s leadership and expressed confidence in joint initiatives like “Mission 300,” an ambitious project to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.
“When you want to solve a problem, you work in partnership,” Adesina stated, lauding Banga’s collaborative spirit.
Both leaders highlighted the urgency of engaging Africa’s youth in agriculture. The African Development Bank’s “Enable Youth” programme and the World Bank’s focus on youth employment initiatives, reflect a shared commitment to harnessing Africa’s demographic dividend for agricultural transformation and economic prosperity.
“If we don’t put finance behind young people’s ideas, that’s the biggest risk,” Adesina warned.
The 2024 Borlaug Dialogue, hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation, gathers experts worldwide to inspire innovative solutions to global hunger. With this year’s theme, “Seeds of Opportunity, Bridging Generations and Cultivating Diplomacy,” the event champions collaboration, legacy, and hope in the fight for food security.
Adesina also underlined the importance of partnerships such as the G20’s Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty of which the African Development Bank and the World Bank are partnering. The campaign will see SDRs channeled through MDBs to fight hunger. He cited Mission 300, a joint initiative by the World Bank and the African Development Bank to connect 300 million people in Africa to electricity by 2030, as another example of MDB cooperation.
Banga stated his confidence in Adesina’s leadership for initiatives like M300: “We have six years to get it done,” he said.
Scale and ecosystems to address climate change and improve farmers’ livelihoods
Addressing the topic of climate change and farmers’ livelihoods Banga noted that in Africa, only 4% of global climate financing goes to agriculture.
He stressed the need for scalable solutions to support Africa’s small farmers. “The focus must be on scale and ecosystems,” he said, pointing to the World Bank’s efforts to enhance farmers’ access to energy, internet, and credit guarantees, creating a comprehensive support network.
The World Bank is putting the demographic dividend of Africa’s youth population to the fore by making job creation a specific outcome of all its development work, along six specific pillars, Banga said.
Earlier, Mashal Husain, Chief Operating Officer for the World Food Prize Foundation, said the theme for this year’s Borlaug dialogue: “Seeds of Opportunity, Bridging generations and cultivating diplomacy,” pointed to a world of potential to achieve the goal of ending hunger worldwide.
“That seed represents hope, innovation and courage to dream. This week at the Borlaug Dialogue we are not just talking about the seeds of opportunity. We are planting them,” Husain said.
Adesina’s engagements at the Borlaug Dialogue include the Africa Agriculture Dialogue, engagements with the presidents of Sierra Leone and Tanzania and addressing Global Youth Institute Students and Youth Program Alumni. He will also moderate a high-Level panel Discussion on Thursday, October 31, entitled: “Bold Measures to Feed Africa”.
