Alarming food insecurity in Africa
Hong Van -
(VOVWORLD) - 29 African countries need food aid from outside, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization on December 7, nearly one month after it warned of modest progress made by African countries in ensuring food security. It’s an alarming fact that more than half of the number of African countries and territories are facing food insecurity.
 (Photo: www.health24.com) |
Undernourishment in all African regions have been on the sharp rise in recent years, from 20.8% in 2015 to 22.7% last year, although the continent made solid progresses in the fight against food shortages in the period from 2000 to 2010. The UN said one fourth of the total 815 million undernourished people in the world are in Africa. People living in northern Nigeria and South Sudan suffer chronicle hunger, while hunger becomes more widespread in Central African Republic, the People’s Republic of the Congo, and Syria. 1.1 million people in Central African Republic, 7.7 million people in the People’s Republic of the Congo, 3 million in northern Nigeria, and 4.8 million in South Sudan need emergency food aid. These figures are 3 times higher than the previous year. Food shortage leads to malnutrition, particularly among children, creating major barrier for African development. Africa’s food insecurity is caused by prolonged conflicts, which hinder production and increase the number of people who lost their homes. In addition, severe weather conditions also adversely affect production.
High ranking leaders are urged to adopt proper macro-economic development policies to boost agriculture, respect their commitment to invest 10% of the national budget into agriculture to help millions of people escape hunger and poverty.
Hong Van