Washington: The World Bank has announced a strategic initiative aimed at enhancing global food production and generating employment through its AgriConnect program. This initiative was revealed during the ongoing Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank Group in Washington.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the World Bank emphasized that AgriConnect is designed to revolutionize smallholder farming, create employment opportunities, and bolster global food security. The initiative aims to address the challenges faced by the approximately 500 million smallholder farmers who produce the majority of the world’s food yet remain impoverished due to reliance on traditional farming methods and lack of access to markets, finance, and technology.
The World Bank highlighted the importance of supporting these farmers to achieve commercial success, which is integral to job creation, poverty reduction, and the enhancement of global food security. With projections indicating that 1.2 billion young individuals will join the workforce in developing countries over the next decade, and the global demand for food expected to increase by 30 percent by 2050, transforming agriculture into a driver of opportunity is essential.
The financial institution committed to doubling its annual investment in agribusiness to nine billion dollars. It identified agribusiness as a crucial tool for feeding a projected 10 billion people and eradicating poverty and unemployment. The World Bank outlined necessary steps such as improving infrastructure, supporting government policies, and mobilizing private capital to achieve these goals.
The initiative’s objectives include creating an ecosystem of growth that transforms agriculture to generate more jobs, increase income for millions of smallholder farmers, and enhance global food security. This involves improving infrastructure, access to digital technologies, irrigation, roads, skills, and other essentials to enable businesses to flourish. Additionally, the World Bank plans to support government policies by reinforcing strategies to attract private investment, reduce risks, and promote the growth of local businesses.
