Director of the African Development Bank (AfDB), AKINWUNMI ADESHINA has approved a 1.5 billion dollar emergency programme to alleviate the impact of worsening food insecurity due to the Ukraine war.

About 20 million farmers on the continent will benefit from the fund as Africa faces a shortage of at least 30 million metric tonnes of food, especially wheat, maize, and soybeans imported from Russia and Ukraine.

The programme aims to help produce 38 million tonnes of food. 

This will consist of 11 million tonnes of wheat, 18 million tonnes of maize, six million  tonnes of rice and 2.5 million tonnes of soya beans.

The programme aims to deliver seeds, fertilizer and services to farmers and support post-harvest management, the AfDB said in a statement. 

It will also provide financing and credit guarantees for large-scale supply of fertilizer.

According to an AfDB statement, the food production programme is an unprecedented comprehensive initiative to support smallholder farmers in filling the food shortfall.