The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced a $40 billion investment program by 2030 to transform food systems earlier this year, said Marina Rose Best, ADB's Operations Head for Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, during a panel discussion on the third day of the Baku Climate Action Week (BCAW2025), APA-Economics reports.
She said that part of this approach is also reflected in the ADB’s partnership strategy with Azerbaijan:
“There is no need to explain the importance of agriculture for Azerbaijan – you already know it well. But in numbers, about 36% of the population works in agriculture, and it makes a significant contribution to GDP outside the oil and gas sector. However, despite its importance, the sector is seriously underfunded. For example, only 10% of irrigated land has modern irrigation systems. This is a huge gap.
The ADB has not been widely involved in agriculture in Azerbaijan so far, but we intend to change this. Initial talks with the government are currently underway.”
She said that the areas of interest for the ADB include monitoring and forecasting river basins, modernizing irrigation systems and filling investment gaps, applying digital and new technologies in agriculture, and working directly with farmers to improve their knowledge and skills.
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