As stated above, the causes of hunger are often intertwined. For example, in , Uganda faced food insecurity due to a drought that occurred in During this period, Uganda was already experiencing food insecurity due to an influx of refugees Food Security Information Network, Many of these challenges are man-made. Deforestation, for example, is caused by humans seeking new places to live, farm, or obtain firewood. Drought, water shortage and desertification in Africa all reduce agricultural productivity and thus food availability.
As mentioned above, there is a clear connection between conflict and hunger, but poor governance and policies also lead to hunger due to insufficient access to food. Many countries have seen progress in reducing hunger among their citizens after implementing policies that increase food security.
For example, in the early s, Ethiopia invested in agricultural research and extension, leading to increases in food availability. This increased investment in infrastructure helped move crops to markets, increasing food access IFPRI, Consuming poor-quality food can lead to malnutrition. Policies such as food fortification programs can increase the availability of nutritious foods.
The implementation of iodine fortification programs in countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe have been successful Mijumbi, Africa has the highest population growth rate among world regions; between and , it grew at a rate of 2. It is estimated that more than half of the global population growth between now and will occur in Africa United Nations, Rapid population growth can limit increases in per capita income, causing poverty and hunger.
Percentage and number of people affected by severe food insecurity in Percentage Millions World 9. Building resilience for peace and food security. Rome, FAO. What are the causes of hunger? Poverty Poverty is a principal cause of hunger in Africa and elsewhere.
Conflict Conflict and violence can have direct and indirect impacts on all levels of the food system, leading to food insecurity and hunger. Environment Environmental challenges—including erosion, desertification, deforestation, and drought and water shortages—can have detrimental impacts on food security. Some Other Factors Governance As mentioned above, there is a clear connection between conflict and hunger, but poor governance and policies also lead to hunger due to insufficient access to food.
Ending famines and chronic hunger requires good governance. International Food Policy Research Institute. We need your help to alleviate the hunger crisis in Africa today. Drought , poverty and conflict have impacted every aspect of their lives. With your support, our frontline health teams are working across the continent to deliver emergency hunger and nutrition programs to save vulnerable children.
Help Children Now. Green is normal, yellow is moderately malnourished and red is severely malnourished. If children in the red zone are not quickly treated, there is a very real risk the child could die or suffer from profound long-term health and development issues.
The world knows how to prevent child deaths due to hunger. In fact, more children are surviving today than at any time in history. Save the Children is working to change all this — and save more lives. South Sudan The hunger crisis in South Sudan is especially dire, as roughly half the population is without enough food. Some 1. Nearly one million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished. Our teams are working hard to screen children for malnutrition and help prevent the deadly diseases they are more likely to contract and die from, including measles, malaria, diarrhea, cholera and pneumonia.
Somalia In , drought and famine in Somalia killed more than , children under five in one brutal year. Now, vulnerable communities are again facing severe hunger and water scarcity as Somalia faces one of the driest seasons on record in over 35 years. We are providing some of the hardest-hit communities at risk of starvation with food, clean water, health and nutrition services and vouchers for families to purchase vital supplies. The disease also affects food security in various ways: loss of manpower through death of the victims; the diversion of labour and other resources from food production to tending to the sick; erosion of the knowledge-base that the infected represent once they die; reduction of the family's ability to purchase food; and a shift in food production activities, from crops that take long to yield but are high in nutritional value, to the adoption of fast growing crops.
Droughts, floods and effects of climate change impinge on farming activities. It is a sad reality that most parts of Africa have at one time or another been involved in violent conflicts, most of which have been internal, between certain ethnic groups within the affected countries.
The causes of these conflicts have been varied: a desire to control certain mineral resource-rich areas, for example, in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone; the competition for scarce agricultural and grazing resources; and ethnic chauvinism.
While some conflicts have ended quite some time ago, their deleterious effects on the environment, infrastructure, as well as the psyche and well-being of the nation, are still being felt. For some countries, the conflicts are ongoing. Their most obvious and immediate effects are the injuries and deaths caused to both combatants and innocent civilians.
In addition, conflicts lead to a disruption of the normal day to day economic activities, of which food production, marketing and distribution are integral. Not only are farms left unattended and market activities disrupted, but people are either displaced or too insecure to participate in productive activities.
It is no wonder that this results in food insecurity and attendant hunger. Furthermore, displaced persons usually live in overcrowded conditions where they are exposed to disease outbreaks associated with unsanitary conditions. Finally, widespread malnutrition sets in, affecting mostly children, although pictures of emaciated adults have frequently appeared on television screens worldwide.
Malnutrition in adults is emerging as a serious threat to food security, especially in the Horn of Africa, as affected individuals cannot be physically productive in food procurement or productivity. Pastoralist communities particularly in Kenya and Uganda, which are nomadic, are severely affected by conflicts.
The climate in Africa is such that both periodic droughts and floods are experienced in alternate fashion. These two phenomena usually result in severe food shortages due to poor harvests. It is probably at such times that the rest of the world hears about Africa. Television screens and newspapers abroad become filled with images of starving, suffering, stranded and desperate Africans.
Few can forget the haunting images of gaunt Ethiopians that moved the world to tears and into action during the famine, which left over 1 million people dead. During the cropping season in southern Africa, cereal harvests declined by 35 per cent compared to the previous year, with maize harvest falling by 42 per cent due to drought.
Few technologies have sparked as much debate in recent times as modern biotechnology. According to the Convention on Biological Diversity,33 biotechnology may be defined as "any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific uses".
Africa has often found itself right in the middle of the biotechnology controversy. The application of modern biotechnology to agricultural production represents a great potential for increasing food production, reducing food losses and, as such, reducing food shortages and attendant hunger. There are already several success stories that have been reported, including the production of crops with an increased tolerance to adverse environmental conditions, such as droughts and salinity, as well as increased resistance to pests and weeds.
The food crops in question are potatoes, maize, soybeans and tomatoes, 34 but clearly there is potential for many more. The reduced use of pesticides and herbicides has resulted in a better quality and greater nutrition of food.
The controversy surrounding the application of this technology to food production seems to stem from issues of safety, which need to be addressed.
In , many lives in southern Africa were threatened by imminent death from starvation, as a result of drought-sparked food shortages. The international community, through the World Food Programme WFP , stepped in and offered to avert this by using genetically modified food aid.
However, Governments bluntly refused, citing the potential health risks associated with this commodity. It was quite unfair to ask the starving masses to choose between immediate death and perceived death associated with the consumption of genetically modified food.
This opinion was particularly prevalent in Zambia, where concerns raised included the "poisonous" nature of the donated maize and the possibility of future "contamination" of Zambian grain by pollen from the genetically modified maize. Much emotional outburst has no scientific basis.
Given the globalization of food trade, it is going to be difficult for Africa to cushion itself against what might be perceived as "bad technology" for the continent. However, it is not enough just to have hope. Africans must act and act fast, in collaboration with the international community, to eradicate hunger in the future.
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