Today's Edition
DINA MAHMOUD (LONDON)
As the new year unfolds, concerns are mounting over an escalating hunger crisis in Africa, potentially affecting over 300 million people across the continent.
Experts are warning that Africa could be on the cusp of “catastrophic scenarios” in severe food insecurity.
Officials from the World Food Programme in West Africa highlight the likelihood of many Africans having to skip meals or opt for less nutritious food due to dwindling financial resources, trapping them in a cycle of hunger and malnutrition.
This looming crisis is attributed to the global surge in food prices, climate change impacts, and ongoing conflicts, notably in the Sahel region.
The Sahel, plagued by decades of conflict and disruption, has seen its population, including farmers, displaced, further diminishing access to nutritious food, with women and children being the most vulnerable.
The nearly two-year crisis in Ukraine, leading to reduced grain imports, has exacerbated the situation by affecting global wheat supplies and increasing food import bills for African countries.
Concurrently, international humanitarian agencies, stretched thin across multiple crises, lack the funding to adequately address this hunger crisis. Independent estimates suggest Africa is paying a hefty price for the global climate crisis.
It is anticipated that the number of Africans facing hunger will swell by 50 million this year, the largest single-year increase on the continent.
As per “Tech In Africa” website, agricultural productivity in many African countries faces severe threats due to land disruptions and the devastating effects of floods and droughts, a consequence of climate change.
Experts caution that addressing food insecurity through expanding traditional agriculture could exacerbate environmental damage and increase greenhouse gas emissions. They advocate for a complete overhaul of Africa’s food systems to achieve sustainability and curb the hunger crisis, which, at its peak last year, led to a death every 36 seconds in countries like Somalia and Kenya.
