African farmers need $65 billion in loans to curb food imports
African farmers will require as much as $65bn in loans annually to produce enough food to curb imports and protect their economies from external shocks, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The continent currently imports over 100 million metric tonnes of cereals at an annual cost of $75bn, the AfDB said in a statement.
The bank also noted that recent spikes in inflation, including increases in food prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, further demonstrate Africa’s over-reliance on imports of food staples and agricultural inputs.
The AfDB is working on deploying so-called risk reduction tools, such as commercial credit guarantees, to ease lending requirements to African farmers and agribusiness in order to move from traditional subsistence agriculture to a modern and competitive African agro-industrial sector that can feed the entire African continent.
