A global collaborative effort involving the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is set to deploy a $500 million fund to enhance agricultural development and policymaking through comprehensive data collection.
Under the 50×2030 initiative, this international partnership aims to commit $500 million over the next decade to address the challenge of agricultural production without a robust information foundation. The initiative seeks to boost agricultural productivity, improve livelihoods, and foster the development of informed agricultural policies.
Focusing on capacity-building for data-driven policies and decision-making, the 50×2030 Initiative is expected to directly impact 50 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America by 2030.
In Nigeria, implementing the 50×2030 Initiative falls under the purview of the Agro Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project, supported by the World Bank. ACReSAL, mandated with environmental, agricultural, and water resources management, aims to combat desertification, restore degraded lands, develop special ecosystems, and promote sustainable agricultural production across Nigeria’s 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The initiative is poised to contribute significantly to food security, sustainability, and climate change mitigation by bolstering national agricultural data systems.
Dr. Joy Ighanya Agene, the Project Task Team Leader for AGReSAL, highlighted the initiative’s potential to address challenges such as desertification, the shrinking of Lake Chad, and climate change-induced pastoral nomadism, often leading to conflicts between farmers and herders.
Funding for the 50/2030 Initiative will be sourced sustainably through participatory contributions. Participating governments must provide 70% of the funding to unlock the remaining 30% from developmental partners.
The national data-gathering exercise is scheduled to take place between October 2024 and April 2025. The collected data are expected to be available for use six months after the exercise concludes.
In preparation for the data collection exercise, ACReSAL conducted a two-day training session for its officers and stakeholders across the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory on April 24th and 25th, 2024.
