Africa, as a food producing continent can produce enough to feed itself and the rest of the world. But instead of being the food basket of the world, the continent is facing increasing hunger and malnutrition due to factors such as the impact of climate change, conflict and COVID-19, described as the ‘Triple Cs’.
These challenges are not only threatening future food production prospects but they are also rolling back achievements in Africa’s food systems.
At a panel discussion held virtually as a side event of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) on Monday, the discussants gave vivid images of the threats posed by the ‘Triple Cs’ and made recommendations on fashioning out appropriate responses to dealing with the issues.
According to Dina Saleh of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the interactions between conflict, climate change and COVID-19 negatively impact the food system as well SDGs and Agenda 2063. She urged African countries to build resilient food systems to address the challenges.
In his contribution, Dr. Chimimba David Phiri, the FAO Subregional Coordinator for Eastern Africa and FAO Representative to the African Union, noted that there was no better opportunity to discuss Africa’s food systems than now.
Citing incidents of droughts and floods, Mr. Phiri said what used to occur every 10 years in the past, now occurred every two years.
He said climate change was one of the causes of resource-based conflicts, for example over water, and posed real challenges to food systems by displacing families and farmers.
“The emergence of COVID-19 has worsened the vulnerability of food systems, especially of people living in rural areas,” said Mr. Phiri.
Kafkas Capralzi of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said a sustainable food system that provides food, is profitable, broad-based and has a positive and neutral impact on the environment.
He said while large scale food producers were able to adapt production practices due to climate change and have food sufficiency, small scale producers could not.
“In the next 10 years if we don’t take action, there will be chronic hunger,” he said. “Risk is a hazard, and when it meets humans, governments have an obligation to act.”
Magadalena Moshi, Deputy Director, African Union Liaison Office in Addis Ababa at UN World Food Programme, said the ‘Tripple Cs’ were key drivers behind worsening food security.
She said the global food system should be inclusive and food production systems must be expanded to reach more vulnerable people.
Amjad Abbashar, Chief, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Regional Office for Africa, said Africa experiences at least two disasters per week.
He said the cascading nature of risk can affect other areas of life in multiple ways with ripple effects, impacting development gains in the process.
In his presentation, Gerald Masila, the Executive Director at the Eastern Africa Grain Council, said failure to increase local food production has seen the continent’s food import bill rising. This has discouraged local farmers, affected local supply chains and also deterred investors from investing in agriculture, and in the process weakening the ability of local producers to compete.
He recommended the conversion of small scale farms into large scale farms by bringing them together so they can focus on value chains and lower production costs. He called for improved value chains on the continent and accountability in the way cooperatives are run.
The four-day meeting is being held under the theme “Building forward better: towards a resilient and green Africa to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063”.
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