For a better life: AfDB Agriculture Projects transforming the lives of people in Cabo Verde, Ghana, Zambia and Rwanda
Africa’s agriculture sector has enormous potential. If adequately harnessed, it can make vital a contribution towards promoting inclusive growth on the continent. Over the last 10 years, Africa has experienced a relatively strong economic growth, in spite of the setbacks occasioned by the food and financial crises, political tensions, as well as natural disasters in some African countries. The laudable and impressive growth witnessed recently in Africa has unfortunately not been matched with a significant reduction in unemployment and poverty. More worrisome is the fact that growth has not been inclusive, and has not resulted in a wider access to sustainable socio-economic opportunities for most people. It has also done little to protect the vulnerable, including women and the youth, the latter accounting for the majority of Africa’s smallholder farmers. Since GDP growth originating from agriculture is by far more effective in reducing poverty than GDP growth from other sectors, and as the majority of Africa’s poor depend on smallholder agriculture for their livelihoods, pursuing inclusive agriculture growth could assist in accelerating and sustaining the region’s impressive overall economic growth, with positive impacts on the Millennium Development Goals, especially the goal of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. Since its creation, the African Development Bank has recognized the potential of agriculture to bolster inclusive growth and food security, as well as to enhance regional integration in Africa. Accordingly, the AfDB has and continues to support agricultural transformation in Africa mainly through investments in infrastructure development. Agriculture and rural development have benefitted from some USD 12 billion of public and private sector loans and grants between 1967 and 2014. In the last five years alone, the AfDB has supported more than 100 operations with commitments valued at more than USD 2 billion. Furthermore, the agriculture sector still retains its prominence in AfDB’s Ten Year Strategy 2013-2022 as an area of special emphasis towards the realization of the Strategy’s twin objectives of inclusive growth and the transition to green growth. Capitalizing on the continent’s vast agriculture resources and opportunities to integrate African enterprises in regional and global agriculture value chains, the AfDB now focuses on financing activities which demonstrate value addition and strengthen forward and backward linkages in the sector. The AfDB is also at the forefront of ensuring sustainable use of the vast agriculture resources by promoting climate-smart agriculture. This movie offers of some emerging success stories from a sample of the Bank’s interventions. It shows how our projects are impacting the lives of people. The Watershed Management Project in Cape Verde, the Rural Enterprise Project in Ghana, the Trans-boundary Animal Disease Control Project in Zambia and “One Family, One Cow” project in Rwanda are true reflections of how the AfDB’s modest but positive interventions in agriculture are touching the lives of people and helping them to reap the dividends of development.