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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Sunday announced plans to expand its support to long-term food and nutrition security in Asia and the Pacific by US$26 billion, bringing its total funding for food security initiatives to $40 billion over 2022-2030.
The proposed assistance would fund a comprehensive program spanning the entire food production process -- from farming and processing -- to distribution and consumption, said an ADB news release.
Through financing and policy support for governments and companies, the programme aims to help Asia and the Pacific generate diverse and nutritious food, create jobs, reduce environmental impacts, and promote resilient agricultural supply chains, according to the press release.
"Unprecedented droughts, floods, extreme heat, and degraded natural resources are undermining agricultural production, while at the same time threatening food security and rural livelihoods," the release said, quoting the ADB President Masato Kanda.
"This expanded support will help countries alleviate hunger, improve diets, and protect the natural environment, while providing opportunities for farmers and agribusinesses," he said at ADB's 58th Annual Meeting in Milan.
The ADB head also quoted as saying: "It (support) will drive change across the entire food value chain, from how food is grown and processed to how it is distributed and consumed."
The new ambition builds on ADB's September 2022 pledge to invest $14 billion by 2025 to improve food security and ease the regional food crisis, according to the ADB release.
By the end of 2024, ADB had committed $11 billion-about 80 per cent of the original allocation-with an additional $3.3 billion in investments programmeed for 2025, it mentioned.
"The $26 billion in additional funding announced today will consist of $18.5 billion in direct ADB support for governments and $7.5 billion in private sector investments," said the release.
By 2030, ADB aims for private sector investments to account for more than 27 per cent of the total $40 billion programme-underscoring the critical role of the private sector in driving food systems transformation, it added.
Mentioning that more than half of the world's undernourished people live in developing Asia, it said biodiversity loss and malnutrition are straining food systems, which account for 70 per cent of global water use, 50 per cent of habitable land, and 80 per cent of biodiversity loss.
Food systems also employ 40 per cent of the region's workforce in the region, it stated.
To support food systems transformation, the program will modernize agricultural value chains to improve access to affordable and healthy food for vulnerable populations, according to the ADB release.
It will also invest in improving soil quality and conserving biodiversity-essential elements for productive agriculture that are increasingly under threat from climate change, pollution, and the loss of land and aquatic ecosystems.
The programme will support the development of digital technology and analytics to improve decision-making for farmers, agribusinesses, and policymakers, it added.
ADB is establishing the Natural Capital Fund-a planned $150 million blended finance vehicle-with anchor support from the Global Environment Facility and contributions expected from other partners including the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program.
This fund will support agri-food system projects by farmers and innovators that protect, restore, and manage natural capital sustainably across ADB's developing members, said the press release.
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