The World Bank has reaffirmed its dedication to transforming agriculture into a sustainable industry that generates employment, income, and food security worldwide
Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group, made this statement on Tuesday in Washington during the ‘AgriConnect Flagship Event’ held alongside the 2025 Annual Meetings of the IMF/World Bank Group.
Mr. Banga stated that agriculture has consistently played a key role in development.
“Currently, the focus is on how to increase food production and transform that increase into a business that generates greater profits for smallholder farmers and broader opportunities throughout the economy.”
“In the next 10 to 15 years, approximately 1.2 billion youth in developing nations will reach adulthood, yet existing trends indicate that merely 400 million jobs will be generated.” Hundreds of millions will either fuel the global economy or lead to unrest and migration. “That is why the World Bank Group has prioritized job creation as our main objective,” he stated.
The president of the World Bank stated that jobs fundamentally originate from the private sector, noting that not all of them begin there.
“Nations progress along a spectrum: initially, the government leads in job creation; as time passes, private investment and entrepreneurship become predominant.” Our strategy based on three pillars illustrates this trajectory: develop infrastructure and capabilities, establish stable regulations along with a business-friendly atmosphere, and support investors with risk management tools to attract capital.
“We recognize opportunities in five areas: infrastructure, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and value-added manufacturing.” “Today, our attention will be on agribusiness, which is crucial for employment and fulfilling the global food demand expected to increase by over 50 percent in the upcoming decades,” he stated.
He stated that emerging markets were at the core of both goals, noting that the developing world possesses the essential elements: land, sunlight, water, and population.
“Africa contains 60 percent of the globe’s uncultivated arable land and has the potential to increase outputs on land that is currently being farmed.” Latin America currently generates sufficient food for more than a billion individuals, but infrastructure poses a problem. Throughout Asia, smallholder farmers control the majority of agricultural land; a vast foundation to enhance with improved technology, financing, and access to markets,” he stated.
He mentioned that worldwide, 500 million smallholders generated 80 percent of global food, noting that many continued to be trapped in subsistence farming—deprived of electricity, storage, training, and market access.
“Less than 10% have access to business financing.” The chance has existed for decades; what is evolving is our capacity to coordinate on a large scale to influence the future of food security, nutrition, development, and jobs,” he stated.
Mr. Banga stated that in 2024, the World Bank Group started implementing a strategy that acknowledged this reality by aiming to assist smallholders in increasing productivity and scaling up.
“We aimed to link them with organized value chains that increase earnings and protect against exploitation, ensuring that farmers don’t have to sell their land due to insufficient credit, insurance, or market access.” Concurrently, we have established a goal to increase our agribusiness investments to nine billion dollars each year by 2030, with the objective of mobilizing an extra $5 billion. “It is based on our field tests and insights gained from others,” he stated.
Mr. Banga stated that the emphasis was on the small farmer who is short on inputs, credit, guidance, or a reliable buyer.
“Producer organizations, frequently established by governments, entrepreneurs, or private entities, can link them to suppliers, insurers, purchasers, and creditors,” he stated.
