Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) is confident to deliver its committed $14 billion investments to improve food security and “ease the food crisis” in Asia and the Pacific by next year.
In a statement, ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa during the Asia and the Pacific Food Security Forum 2024 in Manila, said “food insecurity is causing tremendous suffering and undermining the prospects for development.”
“The world needs to act urgently to address this crisis exacerbated by extreme weather events and geopolitical conflicts (and) we need to accelerate food systems transformation by safeguarding and reinvesting in the region's natural capital and ecosystems, bolstering support for farmers and agribusinesses, and facilitating open trade for efficient food distribution,” he added.
The Asia and the Pacific Food Security Forum 2024 is currently ongoing. It commenced last April 9 until Friday, April 12.
ADB said that last year, it had committed to invest $7.6 billion or about 52 percent of the total promised allocation which was a funding that will cover four years starting in 2023.
The ADB food security program includes – besides the Philippines -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the People’s Republic of China, Solomon Islands, and others.
ADB said it has signed a cooperation agreement with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the world’s largest publicly funded group of agri-food systems research centers. It said the “agreement will help ADB scale up proven innovative technologies developed by CGIAR centers to address food and water security, climate, and nutrition challenges.”
The multilateral bank also disclosed that a letter of intent has been signed between ADB and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) of India. NABARD is a financial organization to improve the agricultural sector and rural progress. “The agreement will guide ADB–NABARD cooperation to extend loans and credit for farming, small industries, and various rural enterprises,” said ADB.