(VOVWORLD) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced a plan to provide 14 billion USD between now and 2025 to ease a worsening food crisis in Asia and the Pacific.
 Wheat imported from Ukraine is sold in a shop in Hasbaya, Libya (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) |
ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said this is an urgently needed response to a crisis that is leaving too many poor families in Asia hungry and deeper in poverty
He said the plan will improve food security in the medium and long term.
According to Asakawa, ADB is redirecting funding from other projects and ramping up cyclical assistance in several countries to make available 1 billion USD.
In addition, ADB will spend at least 1.5 billion USD on projects in agriculture, natural resources, and rural development. ADB also aims to support trade and supply chains, finance farmers and agricultural businesses, and provide loans for small and medium-sized enterprises in the agriculture and food sectors.
This year 800 million USD will be used in the private sector for trade and supply chain financing, direct agricultural business lending, micro financing programs, and lending to financial institutions.
ADB pledged to add 3.3 billion USD between 2023 and 2025 to build stronger, more sustainable, and more equitable food systems.