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Hunger on the rise across Africa: 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report

Aug 9th, 2025 • by Sara Gustafson

While declining globally, hunger continued to rise across Africa in 2024. An estimated 307 million people in the region, or more than 20 percent of the region’s population, experienced hunger, according to the 2025 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report. This was up from just under 19 percent in 2022 and from 17.4 percent in 2019 before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2015 when the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal Agenda was released, hunger has increased in the region by 113 million people.

Sudan’s war is an economic disaster: Here’s how bad it could get

Jul 28th, 2025 • by Khalid Siddig

Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a devastating war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. What began as a struggle for power has turned into a national catastrophe. More than 14 million people have been displaced. Health and education systems have collapsed and food insecurity threatens over half the population of about 50 million.

The war has disrupted key sectors, triggering severe economic contractions, and worsening poverty and unemployment levels.

Private sector participation is important for agricultural development - but not on its own

Jul 21st, 2025 • by Sara Gustafson

As policymakers and development practitioners aim to boost adoption of new technologies to promote sustainable agricultural development, they are increasingly turning to private sector companies for help. These companies can often provide marketing and financial incentives that the public sector cannot, making them an important potential pathway to reach farmers and increase their use of new technologies.

How good are livestock statistics in Africa? Evidence from Ethiopia

Jul 18th, 2025 • by Kibrom Abay, Hailemariam Ayalew Tiruneh, Zelalem Terfa, Joseph Karugia, and Clemens Breisinger

Livestock supports the livelihoods of around 1 billion people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Thorne and Conroy 2017, Baltenweck et al. 2020). However, growth and productivity of the livestock sector in many LMICs are not keeping pace with the increasing demand for animal-source foods. Boosting the sector’s productivity is crucial for poverty reduction in LMICs, which continue to face multifaceted challenges and shocks that threaten the sustainability of food systems. This, in turn, requires reliable livestock data for informing livestock policies and investments.

Northern Nigeria’s hunger crisis: Transforming food aid to rebuild food systems

Jul 14th, 2025 • by David Stevenson, Abdul Kamara, Yero Baldeh, Martin Fregene, and Steven Were Omamo

Humanitarian agencies around the world face a never-ending race against time to save lives in places where conflicts, extreme weather, and other shocks lead to collapsing economies, leaving populations facing hunger and other forms of food insecurity.