AfDB, Rockefeller in Sh300m Africa agriculture fund
The bank’s president for Agriculture, Human and Social, Akinwumi Adesina
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has set up a Sh300 million trust fund in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation to support agricultural transformation in various African countries.
The “Feed Africa” initiative is a priority programme for the bank as it pursues change to improve people’s quality of life.
“The African Development Bank Group has established a $3 million (Sh300 million) Rockefeller Trust Fund, a joint effort of the Bank and The Rockefeller Foundation to help spur Africa’s transformation,” it said in a statement.
Among other things, the Rockefeller Trust Fund will support the “Jobs for Youth in Africa (JfYA) Coding for Employment Programme” with the goal of increasing inclusive employment and entrepreneurship among Africa’s youth within the agricultural and other sectors.
“We are very excited to be doing this with the Rockefeller Foundation. This is the start of something really important in a few different areas,” said Jennifer Blanke, the bank’s vice-president for Agriculture, Human and Social Development and one of the agreement’s signatories.
“It is not about the money, though it is good to have the financing, but it is really about the partnership,” she added.
