NAIROBI, June 8 (Xinhua) -- The International Fund for Agricultural Development(IFAD), a UN specialized agency, will back initiatives that seek to transform smallholder agriculture in Africa, boost food security and rural incomes, senior officials have said.
Guoqi Wu, IFAD associate vice president, Corporate Services Department, said that African small-holder farmers deserved financial and technical support, access to hybrid seeds, markets, and training to boost crop yield, incomes, and nutritional security.
Speaking during the launch of IFAD's East and Southern Africa's Regional Office in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital on Tuesday, Wu underscored the role of partnerships, robust investments, training, and research to tackle the continent's endemic hunger and poverty challenge.
According to Wu, the regional office will facilitate the scaling up of monetary and technical interventions that can revolutionize food production systems in a continent grappling with adverse impacts of the climate crisis and COVID-19.
"The increase of our presence in the region is also a demonstration of our commitment to serving the last mile, reaching the most marginalized people," said Wu.
He added that IFAD's East and Southern Africa regional office, which will be hosted at the UN Offices in Nairobi, will also act as a hub for facilitating knowledge sharing, resource mobilization, and policy engagement to re-invigorate the food security and rural transformation agenda for the continent.
African countries have forged robust partnerships with IFAD since its establishment in the mid-1970s to spur agricultural productivity, and address hunger and rural poverty, according to Wu.
He said that the provision of grants by IFAD coupled with concessional lending to African states, transfer of advanced technologies, and sharing of best practices in the past four decades, has advanced the continent's food security agenda.
Wu stressed that the success of agricultural transformation initiatives across Sub-Saharan Africa hinges on communities' ownership, policy reforms, and innovative financing.
Sara Mbago-Bhunu, IFAD's Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, emphasized that strategic partnerships, private sector-led investments, and renewed policy dialogue will be key to transforming small-holder farming in the continent.
The newly launched IFAD's regional office for East and Southern Africa, which will serve 22 countries, will facilitate the scaling up of innovative approaches to spur food systems transformation in a continent grappling with rapid population growth and urbanization, said Mbago-Bhunu.
Mariatu Kamara, IFAD Country Representative, Kenya said that supporting local small-holder farmers with irrigation technologies and improved seeds has strengthened their resilience in the face of climate change. ■