Due to rapid growing populations, conflicts and unfavorable climate changes, the total number of people suffering from hunger has continued to rise on the African continent.
According to records from a report by the Malabo Montpellier panel of African and international food security experts on ‘how Africa can build a future free from hunger and malnutrition’, the proportion of people suffering from hunger dropped from 28% to 20% between 1990 and 2015.
However, the total number continues to grow due to rapid big number of people which continues to grow adding pressure on the land.
The report notes that although there has been great progress in the fight against malnutrition, hunger and child obesity, especially in countries like Senegal, Ghana, Ethiopia and Rwanda in reducing the number of undernourished people and wasted and stunted children by more than 50%, the same report indicates that there is a lot to be done by governments to overcome the above problems.
“A number of significant challenges remain. To achieve aims set out at the Malabo declaration of African union’s agenda 2063; African governments need to double their efforts to tackle malnutrition challenges,” said Ousmane Badiane, a co-chair of the panel.
Among the main challenges that continue to pull back the fight against famine and malnutrition include demographic changes and urbanization which continue to add pressure on food systems, the consumption of cheap non nutritious poor foods and lack of exercise that has led to obesity among the middle class as well as political social conflicts and climate changes that continue to slow down or even reverse the fight against hunger and famine.
African countries are advised to work together with experts and donors to make sure that intensive research to find solutions for the above challenges are put in place so that the problem of malnutrition can become a non-issue by 2068.
