Eliminating Hunger And Malnutrition, A Race Against Time

Undernourishment has reached levels of 22.8 percent in sub-Sahara Africa

By Benson Afful

The task of eliminating hunger and malnutrition as set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, as well as in the African Union 2025 Malabo Commitments is a race against times towards delivering the targets, Abebe Haile-Gabriel, Regional Representative for Africa, FAO has said. There should be a sense of urgency for concerted actions by all,” he added.

The latest statistics show that in Africa, over a quarter of a million people go to bed hungry. He quoted the 2019 report on the state of Food Security and Nutrition published by the FAO, which confirms that hunger has been on the rise in almost all sub-Sahara Africa where the prevalence of undernourishment has reached levels of 22.8 percent.

It should be worrisome to note that the number undernourished people has been increasing steadily in Africa over the last few years, where it reached 256.1 million people in 2018 with a staggering 93 percent of those living in sub-Sahara Africa.

This year, the FAO Regional Office for Africa and the FAO Ghana jointly organized three events in Accra under the theme “Our actions are our future. A healthy diet for a Zero Hunger World” to mark World Food Day celebrated on October 16.

Abebe Haile-Gabriel noted that the hardest hits are family and subsistence farmers in rural areas. The worsening food security situation was due to climate change, conflict, and economic slowdowns. These factors continue to be the main drivers of food and nutrition insecurity in the Africa region. He said malnutrition is three-pronged; it encompasses under-nutrition, over-nutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies. Africa faced with both over-nourishment and under-nourishment. A quarter of the world’s children under five that are overweight live in Africa.

Eliminating all forms of hunger and nutrition is at the heart of the FAO’s mandate.