Over 281 million people in Africa have been driven into hunger by a combination of conflict, climate change and economic slowdowns including those triggered by Covid-19, a new, interactive digital report says.
The African Union Commission (AUC), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) launched the digital report on Tuesday as the latest update to their annual reporting on the state of food security and nutrition in Africa.
According to the report hunger on the continent has worsened substantially since 2013, most of this deterioration occurring between 2019 and 2020.
The situation is expected to have deteriorated further this year, with no easing of hunger’s main drivers, says the digital report which gives readers a better understanding of the scope of hunger in Africa.
In 2020, 281.6 million Africans were undernourished, an increase of 89.1 million over 2014, it states.
There is a significant variation in the levels and trends of hunger across subregions.
About 44 percent of undernourished people on the continent live in Eastern Africa, 27 percent in Western Africa, 20 percent in Central Africa, 6.2 percent in Northern Africa, and 2.4 percent in Southern Africa.
Short term measures to address the hunger challenge include countries providing humanitarian assistance and effective social protection measures, the report says.
Over the longer term, countries will need to invest in agriculture and related sectors, as well as in water, health, and education services.
MG/as/APA