How Can we Improve Food Security in Africa? (a multifaceted approach)
Why should we in Sub Saharan Africa be concerned about food security? According to a 2022 report by the UN Economic Commission for Africa, an estimated 868 million people were moderately or severely food-insecure, 342 million of them “severely food insecure”. That is 62 percent of the continent. More than two-thirds of the population in Central Africa, Eastern Africa and Western Africa faced moderate or severe food insecurity, meaning they did not have access to adequate food. Africa, a continent with vast agricultural potential, faces significant challenges in ensuring food security for its growing population. A combination of factors including climate change, poor agricultural practices, political instability, and limited resource access contribute to this. To address these challenges, a multifaceted approach is needed.
- Investing in Agricultural Infrastructure
- Irrigation systems: to farmers cope with droughts and increase agricultural productivity.
- Storage facilities: to reduce post-harvest losses and increase available food
- Rural roads: to facilitate easy transportation of food to markets, reducing food wastage and increasing farmers’ incomes.
- Promoting Sustainable Agricultural Practices
- Climate-smart agriculture, resilient to climate change, such as agroforestry, crop rotation, and conservation agriculture.
- Diversification: a variety of crops and animals to reduce the risk of crop failures and ensure food security.
- Organic farming: Promoting organic farming practices can improve soil health, reduce pollution, and produce healthier food
- Adopt high yielding varieties, to cope with food needs of rapidly increasing populations.
- Empowering Smallholder Farmers
- Access to affordable finance, especially to smallholder farmers, for inputs.
- Technical assistance and training to farmers to improve.
- Market linkages, so food surplus regions can supply food deficient ones.
- Addressing Climate Change
- Mitigation: reducing greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable agricultural practices and renewable energy.
- Adaptation: implementing strategies to cope with the impacts of climate change, such as drought-tolerant crops and early warning systems.
- Improving Governance and Policy
- Good governance: ensuring that governments are accountable and transparent in their policies and decision-making -difficult but doable.
- Sound policies: developing and implementing policies that support food security.
Further reading:
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): https://www.fao.org/home/en
- African Union: https://au.int/en/overview
- World Bank: https://www.worldbank.org/en/home
- International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI): https://www.ifpri.org/
Keren Obara
Digital Marketing Associate.