Transforming Africa from a “continent of challenges” into a “continent of solutions”


· 7 min read
The number of people facing hunger in Africa has increased by 11 million since 2021 and by more than 57 million since the outbreak of the pandemic. Three years later, while other continents appear to be recovering, Africa is still struggling. Nearly 20 percent of the African population is facing hunger, a much larger proportion than the rest of the world compared to 8.5 percent in Asia, 6.5 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 7 percent in Oceania. About 38 percent (282 million) of undernourished people in the world live in Africa and while this is expected to remain constant in Latin America and the Caribbean, in Africa it is projected to increase significantly with around 300 million people facing hunger in 2030.
Another ongoing challenge is that 60 percent of Africa’s population lives in poverty with agriculture being the foundation of Africa's livelihoods and economies. Agriculture supports more than 55% of the labour force but it is also the sector most affected by climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that Africa is warming faster than the rest of the world, at an increasingly challenging pace for countries and communities to keep up with. Because of climate change, the continent's agricultural productivity growth has declined by 34% since 1961, the highest compared to any other region of the world. Projected annual food imports by African countries are expected to increase by about a factor of three, from US$35 billion to US$110 billion, by 2025.
The impact of climate change in Africa goes well beyond food insecurity. It includes the spread of infectious diseases, the loss of biodiversity, and the loss of human lives. In 2022, more than 110 million people on the continent were directly affected by climate and water-related hazards, causing more than US$8.5 billion in economic damages. According to the Emergency Event Database, there were around 5,000 deaths, of which 48% were associated with drought and 43% with flooding. Climate change is directly threatening Africa’s health, peace, and prosperity.
The African continent is blessed with vast wealth in the form of natural resources, minerals and renewable energy, factors that contribute to it sustaining 5 of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world. Africa is also the youngest continent with a population of 1.4 billion people, representing 17% of the world's population, almost 2/3 of which are under the age of 25. Therefore, it is very well positioned to be a global leader in addressing the climate crisis and providing food security, with the potential to improve the lives of its people and the world’s population at large. It has promising opportunities to transform its agrifood systems, invest in renewable energy, sustainably leverage its critical minerals and natural resources, and unleash the power of its vibrant young population. Over the past few decades, Africa has made significant progress in various sectors such as health, education and investment in infrastructure.
As the continent’s population continues to grow, expected to reach more than 2.5 billion people by 2050, ensuring food, water and energy security becomes more important than ever. Africa should address its current deficits in a synergistic and coordinated way to optimise water and energy use in agriculture, achieving multiple benefits and avoiding trade-offs through this. Following their recent collaboration, the FAO and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) recommended the use of the water-energy-food nexus approach in implementing food and clean energy solutions for agrifood systems in Africa. Investing in clean energy to modernize agriculture practices would increase productivity by several orders of magnitude. For example, solar-powered, efficient micro-irrigation systems are increasing farm-level incomes by 5 to 10 times, improving yields by up to 300% and reducing water usage by up to 90% while offsetting carbon by generating clean energy.
Another great opportunity lies in improving Africa's trade in agricultural products within the continent. Nowadays, only 10 percent of its imports and 17 percent of its exports are intraregional. Increasing this number is critical to ensure sustained economic growth and for the exchange of technology and skills across the continent. This requires investments in improving infrastructure, transportation and logistics and in digital technology.
Africa has a great opportunity to become food secure and build a resilient future for current and future generations. To help achieve this, Africa can adopt the RISE approach based on Reaffirm – Invest – Scale – Embrace as follows:
Achieving a sustainable and food-secure world is possible if we work together. Africa’s wealth points to a promising and bright future. We must, however, reverse Africa's current negative image of a “continent of challenges” into a positive “continent of solutions”. Going forward towards COP28 and beyond, African countries have multiple opportunities to showcase unity and collective political will in tackling the climate crisis and food security. It is time for Africa to RISE with pride and achieve its full potential to feed and nourish not just its people but the entire world's population.
illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability & Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.
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