Food insecurity, poverty impede the goal of ending hunger in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030
Some 153 million people, representing about 26% of the population aged 15 and older in sub-Saharan Africa, suffered from severe food insecurity in 2014–2015, according to a new Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) report.
Some 153 million people, representing about 26% of the population aged 15 and older in sub-Saharan Africa, suffered from severe food insecurity in 2014–2015, according to a new Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) report. The second edition of the “Regional Overview of Food Insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa (2016)” underscores how severe food insecurity and poverty pose a major challenge to the region’s ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of ending hunger by 2030.
“What it means is that around one out of four individuals above 15 years of age in sub-Saharan Africa was hungry, meaning they did not eat or went without eating for a whole day for lack of money or other resources for food,” said Bukar Tijani, FAO assistant director-general and regional representative for Africa. “This assessment underlines the significance of the challenge facing the region in meeting SDGs’ target 2.1 and the relevance of sustainable and substantial support to food security and nutrition policies and programs in the region.”
At the aggregate level, sub-Saharan Africa achieved adequate food availability, in terms of dietary energy supply, over the 2014–2016 period. However, several countries in the region remain highly dependent on food imports to ensure adequate food supplies, with some sub-regions depending on imports for up to one-third of their cereal needs. This indicates that substantial demand for food exists for these countries, and there is a need to increase agricultural productivity, food production, and value addition, among other things.
Speaking at the launch of the report, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Food Security, Patrick Monty Jones, noted that the agriculture sector in sub-Saharan Africa is strongly based on household, small-scale farming, and that the majority of African farmers cultivate less than 10% of their land, which could be attributed to many factors including poor governance of land tenure and shocks and stresses due to climate change resulting in food insecurity.
The report recognizes the need to spur a broad-based economic transformation, particularly in the agricultural sector, which is the major source of income in sub-Saharan Africa, to generate a substantial reduction in poverty and improve food accessibility.
It cites unstable food markets and commodity prices and natural disasters—including severe droughts and floods leading to failed crops, insufficient pasture feed, and water for livestock—as well as persistent political instability, conflicts and other forms of violence, as the main triggers of food insecurity and malnutrition in the region.
“Building resilience through peace-building efforts is critical to food security and nutrition. In armed conflict and protracted crises, protecting, saving, and rebuilding agricultural livelihoods to save lives and create the conditions for longer-term resilience is a key step towards ensuring peace and stability. The critical role of the agriculture sector in crisis situations must not be overlooked and necessary investments need to be made,” the report recommends.