Yemisi Izuora
The International Fund For Agricultural Development, IFAD, has estimated that about
$265 billion annual investment is required to end poverty and hunger by 2030..
Mr. Kanayo Nwanze, President of IFAD, in a presentation at a UN International Conference on ‘Investing in Inclusive Rural Transformation: Innovative Approaches to Financing,”in Rome,urged urgent action to mobilise the estimated fund to achieve the first two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty and hunger by 2030.
“The need is urgent. “Despite decades of commitments and considerable effort to end poverty and hunger, nearly 800 million children, women and men still go hungry every day and an almost equal number live in extreme poverty.’’
Nwanze stressed the need to be more creative in using public resources and mobilise financing.
He emphasised the need to make it easier for the private sector and philanthropists to invest in rural areas, where rates of poverty and hunger was highest.
Nwanze stressed that the financing needs for development were enormous, but so were the opportunities.
“Agri-food is already a five trillion dollars sector, and it is growing. It holds tremendous promise for the private sector and for producers in developing countries,” he said.
He said the conference came at a critical time with political changes and humanitarian crises such as war, migration and natural disasters which were reshaping global priorities and potentially diverting money away from development.
According to him, the majority of these poor and hungry people lived in rural areas of developing countries, adding that investments need to be targeted to transform rural areas into vibrant places that offer all people the opportunity to have decent jobs and lead dignified lives free of poverty and hunger.