- Nearly 282 million people in Africa are undernourished
- Around 30 percent of children are stunted because of malnutrition
Image: FILE
Africa is confronting an unprecedented food crisis, and alarms bells are being ignored, a new report has said.
The report was released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, African Union Commission, UN Economic Commission for Africa, and the World Food Programme.
The report, Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition, Statistics and Trends 2023, highlighted alarming statistics on food insecurity and malnutrition.
These statistics underscore the urgent need for comprehensive action.
FAO Assistant director Gabriel Haile said there is a deterioration of food security situation and lack of progress towards WHO global nutrition targets.
"This makes it imperative for countries to step up their efforts if they are to achieve a world without hunger and malnutrition by 2030," he said.
About 20 per cent of Africa's population is undernourished and around 30 per cent of children are stunted because of malnutrition.
This is an increase since Covid-19 pandemic began.
The report indicated that more than a billion people are unable to afford a healthy diet.
The Kenya Democratic Health Survey 2022 report says 1.82 million children, under five, suffer from chronic malnutrition.
This is out of a population of of 7 million children.
The survey said malnutrition should be a significant concern for policymakers in Kenya.
It said Kenya is experiencing the triple burden of malnutrition under nutrition, micro nutrient deficiencies, overweight and obesity.
According to the report, 18 per cent of children under five are stunted, 10 per cent are underweight, three per cent are overweight or obese and 42 per cent of women experience iron deficiency anaemia during pregnancy.
Africa remains off-track in meeting food security and nutrition targets of the SDGs by 2030, and the Malabo targets of ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2025.
The report which comes during COP28 also highlighted the critical intersection of climate challenges and food insecurity in Africa.
It found that the prevalence of stunting among children under five years of age was 30 per cent in 2022.
This remains high despite a substantial improvement during the past two decades.
The prevalence of wasting in children in the region remained below the global estimate of 6.8 per cent in 2022 and was relatively high in all subregions except Southern Africa.
The prevalence of anaemia among adult women remains high in Africa, above the global estimate especially in Western Africa and Central Africa.
Despite modest progress in Africa in the reduction of the prevalence of low birthweight during the last two decades, the prevalence was still high compared to the global estimate.
The prevalence of adult obesity in Northern and Southern Africa is about twice the global estimate.
The report said the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in Africa is high in Eastern Africa, with considerable progress made in Central Africa and Western Africa since 2012.
It said a healthy diet is unaffordable for most Africans.
"The majority of Africa’s population – about 78 per cent, or more than one billion people – remain unable to afford a healthy diet, compared with 42 per cent at the global level and the number is rising," it said.
“The average cost of a healthy diet has been increasing over time, and was at 3.57 purchasing power parity dollars per person per day in 2021 in Africa, which is much higher than the extreme poverty threshold of USD 2.15 per person per day."
Western and Eastern Africa had the largest cumulative increases in the cost of a healthy diet between 2019 and 2021.
The report recommended for agrifood systems transformation in Africa to create more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems for people and the planet.