The World Bank Group has announced a renewed commitment to agriculture financing, with plans to increase its funding to $9 billion annually by 2030.
The President of the World Bank, Mr. Ajay Banga, made this announcement at the Agriculture Flagship Event during the ongoing IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington DC. He emphasized the need for concrete actions by both governments and private sector investors to address long-standing challenges in food production.
“We are combining a new way of working with a new level of investment—doubling our agri-finance and agribusiness commitments to $9 billion annually by 2030,” Banga stated. He added that the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA) would focus on building public sector capacity, while the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) would provide financing and access to the private sector.
He also set a goal to mobilize $5 billion by 2030, saying, “We hope to make changes that will be seen and felt by business and government partners alike.”
Banga noted that despite decades of discussions around the potential of agribusiness and agriculture’s role in shaping food security, nutrition, growth, and employment, key challenges such as water scarcity, fertilizers, infrastructure, and financing had hindered progress.
He highlighted four emerging shifts that make this the right moment for a new strategic approach: advancing climate-smart agriculture, de-risking agriculture to attract private capital, and integrating agribusiness financing with large food companies and traders, who often operate independently.
“This strategic pivot is made possible because of the work we have done over the past 16 months to become a better, simpler, more coordinated institution,” Banga said, noting that the World Bank is now positioned to create a comprehensive ecosystem for agribusiness, with smallholder farmers and producer organizations at the center of this transformation.
Credit: Vanguard
