•
Today, one in three Africans are malnourished, and about half
of it’s nearly 700 million people live on less than $1
a day; most (80 percent) live on less than $2 a day.
• Income growth in Africa barely has kept pace with population
growth, remaining below the 2.5 percent and causing Africa’s
share of the world’s absolute poor to increase from one-fourth
to nearly a third.
• Africa is a diverse continent that contains nearly a
fourth of the lands total land area. Despite its immense size,
only 430 million areas – less than one-fifth of the entire
United States – are considered suitable for farming. Land
degradation is a major threat to Africa’s agricultural
productivity growth.
• Any effort to develop agriculture and improve household
food security must include a focus on women. Most African farmers
are women, and female headed households are more prone to hunger
and poverty. African women generate two-thirds of Africa’s
agricultural production, and participate in trade and processing.
2002 Report:
•
Sub-Saharan Africa enters the new millennium as the one area
of the world where hunger is both pervasive and increasing.
• Most Africans are small-holder farmers. Poverty keeps
them from investing in land improvements, irrigation and fertilizer.
Thus, African farmers are extremely vulnerable to drought, flooding,
and political conflict.
• A problem most African countries have is providing sufficient
food for their people. The reasons for this are complex and
include declining world prices for commodities as well as escalating
debts.
• The rapid spread of AIDS also affects hunger. In some
African countries, between 30 percent and 40 percent of adults
are infected. (See HIV/AIDS Fact Sheet for more information)
• Conflict also affects hunger in Africa. In 2001 civil
conflict and war affected 16 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Internal conflicts interrupted progress in countries, such as
Uganda, that have achieved a measure of food security in recent
years. (See Conflict Fact Sheet for more
information. Coming soon.)
• In eastern Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia continue
to suffer from prolonged periods of drought. The pastoral regions
of these countries are the most vulnerable, and almost 2 million
people in the Horn of Africa received emergency rations from
World Food Program in 2001.
