The chief of the African Development Bank (AfDB) today said countries from the world's second-largest continent can learn a lot from India to become self-sufficient in terms of food production.
The 52nd Annual General Meeting of the AfDB concluded here with a thank you note to India. The regional multilateral development bank will meet at Busan, South Korea, for the next annual gathering in 2018.
Interacting with the media after the concluding ceremony of the three-day meet at Mahatma Mandir, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said Africa can learn a lot from India to become self-sufficient in terms of food production.
He expressed gratitude to India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the success of the bank's meeting.
Adesina thanked Modi for talking about the ambitious 'Asia Africa Growth Corridor' during his inaugural speech at the meet on May 23.
"I am very happy that the Indian Prime Minister shared his views about India and Japan's initiative of Asia Africa Growth Corridor. I am confident that all this would eventually contribute to the greater development of Africa."
Adesina praised policies of the Indian government regarding agriculture and urged African leaders to work towards their own 'green revolution' to lift millions of their citizens out of poverty in the second-most populous continent.
"Promoting agriculture in Africa was one of the key focus areas of this meeting. We need to understand that agriculture is business, not just a way of life. If India can become self-sufficient through green revolution, why not Africa?" he asked.
"India succeeded because the government supported agriculture with favourable policies. But, in Africa, we abandoned (the sector) and left it to the forces of nature. The African governments need to support farmers," Adesina said.
He called for radical changes in way the agriculture sector is being handled at present in Africa.
"American and European farmers are rich because agriculture is business for them, which is not the case with Africa, as we see it as a poor man's activity.
"We will need greater participation of women and youth in that sector. Africa also needs to improve regulatory environment and increase lending," the AfDB chief added.
He said the bank is looking forward to scaling up technologies and for investments in future technologies for skilling the African youth.
Ahead of the press meet, Adesina addressed the concluding ceremony.
The annual meet, held for the first time in India, saw participation of around 3,000 delegates from 81 member- countries of the bank.
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