TICAD7: Japan to assist Sasakawa Association in doubling rice production in Africa

The President of African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina is currently at the 7^th Tokyo International Conference on African Development 2019 (TICAD7), which started in Yokohama in Japan between on August 28 and will continue till August 30. The President of African Development Bank has clearly stated, "We must end hunger in Africa. Yes, we must! Hunger diminishes our humanity."

Recently, a news has come out that Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made an announcement at the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) symposium held on Wednesday during TICAD7 that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will jointly work with the Sasakawa Association to assist double rice production to 50 million tonnes by 2030. Discussions at the symposium focused on Africa's youth bulge, unemployment rates, agricultural innovations and technologies, solutions and job creation opportunities in the agricultural sector. "Japanese technology can play a key role in innovation which is key to agriculture," Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told delegates.

The keynote address of the President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina was to end hunger in Africa. He continued saying, "In spite of all the gains made in agriculture. We are not winning the global war against hunger. We must all arise collectively and end global hunger. To do that, we must end hunger in Africa. Hunger diminishes our humanity."

Akinwumi Adesina said that "hunger diminishes humanity". The 2019 State of Food and Security by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) stated that the number of hungry people globally stands at a disconcerting 821 million and Africa alone accounts for 31 percent of the global number of hungry people – 251 million people.

Sasakawa Association in Africa, which is all set to get cooperation from JICA, has worked between 1986 and 2003 in 15 African countries like Ghana, Mozambique, Sudan, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Benin, Eritrea, Togo, Ethiopia, Mali, Zambia and Guinea.

On the other hand, Akinwumi Adesina expressed his confidence in technology's ability to deliver substantial benefits in agriculture. The AfDB has unveiled the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) to deliver new technologies to millions of farmers. "TAAT has become a game-changer, and is already delivering impressive results," he further added.

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