You cannot tell a hungry child that you gave him food yesterday. - African Proverb
Sub-Saharan
Africa is rich in fertile farming land. However, barely a fraction of fertile
agricultural land is being farmed. There are three main causes of hunger in
Africa, harmful economic systems, conflict, and an overexploited environment.
The
UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimate that of the 856 million people in
sub-Saharan Africa, 233 million people are undernourished. Sub-Saharan Africa was the area with the
second largest number of undernourished people; Asia has 512 million.
Why are people starving in Africa?
Harmful economic systems
Fragmented
regional food markets and the lack of clear and predictable policies have
dissuaded the private sector from making the investments that could allow
Africa to achieve its potential in food and become self-sufficient.
Underlying
causes of hunger in Africa is the operation of the world’s economic and
political systems. Essentially control over resources and income is based on
military, political and economic power that typically ends up in the hands of a
minority, who live well, while those at the bottom barely survive.
Barriers
to regional trade in food staples are a major cause of hunger in Africa. Prices
for basic staple food have tripled, especially of poor families living in
cities: they spend the majority of their income on food. Rising food prices are
also having important macroeconomic impacts on many African countries since
more and more food is being imported from the global market leading to worsening
balances of trade.
Just
5% of Africa’s imports of cereals come from other African countries. This issue
is not going to go away. Demand for food will continue to increase, it is
projected to double by 2020, and consumers will be increasingly located in
Africa’s rapidly growing cities. The increase in food prices especially affects
Nigeria,
Ethiopia, Tanzania, DRC, Niger, Zambia, and Uganda who have some of Africa’s
highest populations.
Conflict
Planned and natural conflict
is a principal source of human misery, including poverty and hunger. According
to a World Bank study, poverty rates are 20% higher in countries affected by
repeated cycles of violence over the last three decades. Every year of violence
in a country is associated with lagging poverty reduction of nearly one
percentage point. People living in countries currently affected by violence are
twice as likely to be undernourished and 50% more likely to be poor. Their
children are three times as likely to be out of school. Countries with serious
human rights abuses or weak government effectiveness, rule of law, and control
of corruption have an average 38% higher risk of civil war, and significantly
higher risk of extreme criminal violence. Environment
Africa
faces serious environmental challenges, including erosion, desertification,
deforestation, and most importantly drought and water shortages, which have
increased poverty and hunger by reducing agricultural production and people’s
incomes. Humans have caused many of these challenges; the environment can be
said to be overexploited.
Barely
a fraction of fertile agricultural land is being farmed, just 10% of the
400 million hectares of agricultural land in the Guinea Savannah zone that
covers a large part of Africa. Cultivating this land can play a key role in
satisfying the rising demand for food in Africa’s cities and ultimately
elsewhere in the world.
