<
https://theconversation.com/towards-zero-hunger-in-africa-5-steps-to-achieve-food-security-192405>
"Global food systems have been battered by overlapping crises in recent years.
Key among these are the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russo-Ukraine war and extreme
weather events resulting from climate change. These have resulted in forced
migration, loss of employment, climate stress, loss of biodiversity, and
economic instability.
In Africa, which is home to 1.5 billion people, these shocks and stressors have
slowed – or even reversed – decades of progress in improving food security and
nutrition. For example, 37 million people in the Greater Horn of Africa are
facing acute hunger in one of the region’s worst droughts in decades.
These multiple crises have forced the world to recognise that improving
nutrition and food security requires more resilient global and national food
systems. Food systems are the sum of actors and interactions along the food
value chain – from input supply and production to transport, processing,
retailing, wholesaling, preparation, consumption and disposal.
As set out in the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG2), the journey towards
food and nutritional security for Africa has a clear destination – zero hunger.
The target is to ensure access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food for all
people by 2030.
The recently launched
Africa Agriculture Status Report examines the
continent’s progress towards food and nutritional security.
We co-edited the report, which has six key themes. It charts a roadmap to get
to the goal faster while adapting to a changing environment. Our report
coincided with World Food Day 2022, whose theme is safer food, better health.
Without transformative change like the Asian Green Revolution, African food
systems will continue to impede human development. They will also continue to
be overly dependent on food imports. Without a strong drive for sustainable
agricultural practices, the continent’s food systems will worsen environmental
destruction. Urgent action is needed to anticipate megatrends, rally political
will, mobilise investments and strengthen capacity."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
