EMPOWERING AFRICA’S FOOD SYSTEMS FOR THE FUTURE

By John M Ulimwengu (IFPRI), Jane Njuguna (AGRA), Sylvia Maina, Conrad Mudibo (Ecomedia)

The 2023 report “Empowering Africa Food Systems for the Future,” highlights the ways in which Africa is uniquely positioned to redefine its future and pave a sustainable and resilient path for generations to come.

Overview
Overall, Africa’s food system is failing to deliver sustainable healthy diets to all, largely due to the combination of climate change, conflict, economic instability, low agricultural productivity, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. With over 20 percent of the continent’s population (roughly 257 million people) undernourished, Africa bears the heaviest burden of malnutrition (FAO, 2022). Child malnutrition is a significant challenge in many African countries. While progress has been made in some areas, high levels of malnutrition persist. Over 20 million people and at least 10 million children faced severe food shortages in Africa due to crop failure and four consecutive dry seasons (UNICEF, 2022). Projections by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) indicate that Africa’s annual food imports will increase significantly by a factor of seven from USD 15 billion in 2018 to USD 110 billion by 2025 and by a factor of three from the current USD 43 billion (ECA, 2021).

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