ADB Cambodia country director Jyotsana Varma (right) chats with a student at Angkor Polytechnic Institute in December 2024. ADB Cambodia
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) issued a May 4 announcement of plans to expand its support to long-term food and nutrition security in Asia and the Pacific by $26 billion, including Cambodia. The boost will bring its total funding for food security initiatives to $40 billion over 2022–2030.
According to the statement the assistance will fund a comprehensive programme spanning the entire food production process — from farming and processing — to distribution and consumption. Through financing and policy support for governments and companies, it aims to help Asia and the Pacific generate diverse and nutritious food, create jobs, reduce environmental impacts and promote resilient agricultural supply chains.
“Unprecedented droughts, floods, extreme heat and degraded natural resources are undermining agricultural production, while at the same time threatening food security and rural livelihoods,” said ADB president Masato Kanda at the ADB’s 58th Annual Meeting, in Milan, Italy.
“This expanded support will help countries alleviate hunger, improve diets and protect the natural environment, while providing opportunities for farmers and agribusinesses. It will drive change across the entire food value chain, from how food is grown and processed to how it is distributed and consumed,” he added.
The statement explained that the new ambition builds on ADB’s September 2022 pledge to invest $14 billion by 2025 to improve food security and ease the regional food crisis. By the end of 2024, ADB had committed $11 billion — about 80% of the original allocation — with an additional $3.3 billion in investments programmed for 2025.
The additional funding will consist of $18.5 billion in direct ADB support for governments and $7.5 billion in private sector investment. By 2030, ADB aims for private sector investments to account for more than 27% of the total $40 billion programme — underscoring the critical role of the private sector in driving food systems transformation.
“More than half of the world’s undernourished people live in developing Asia. Biodiversity loss and malnutrition are straining food systems, which account for 70% of global water use, 50% of habitable land and 80% of biodiversity loss. Food systems also employ 40% of the region’s workforce,” noted that announcement.
“The programme will modernise agricultural value chains to improve access to affordable and healthy food for vulnerable populations. It will also invest in improving soil quality and conserving biodiversity-essential elements for productive agriculture that are increasingly under threat from climate change, pollution, and the loss of land and aquatic ecosystems. The programme will support the development of digital technology and analytics to improve decision-making for farmers, agribusinesses and policymakers,” it added.
