What's New

The past forty years have brought both progress and new challenges for African agriculture. While overall per capita food supplies have become more stable and agricultural productivity has improved, the region’s dependence on food imports has increased, from 39 percent between 1985-2000 to 46.6 percent between 2016-2023. In addition, the food security, livelihoods, and overall well-being of wide swathes of Africa’s population remain more vulnerable than ever before to the negative impacts of climate change, political instability and conflict, and economic shocks.

Sudan has now entered its third year of armed conflict, resulting in economic collapse and a deepening humanitarian crisis. As of April 2025, over 8.6 million people have been internally displaced, and over 3 million have fled to neighboring countries. Famine has been confirmed in 10 areas and internally displaced person (IDP) camps, with 17 others at risk. GDP contracted by 20% in 2023 and 15% in 2024 alongside soaring inflation and widespread food insecurity. The conflict is now among the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

In recent years, it has become increasingly recognized that true food and nutrition security depend not just on consumption of an adequate caloric quantity of food but also on consumption of the right types of food. A healthy diet—which the WHO and FAO define as one characterized by adequate, balanced, moderate, and diverse consumption of safe foods and beverages—is essential in supporting long-term physical and cognitive health, development, and well-being and in preventing diseases and damaging nutrient imbalances.

As global temperatures rise and climate-related disasters become more frequent, the need to adapt is rapidly increasing. That need for adaptation—from adjusting farming practices to diversifying livelihoods and strengthening infrastructure—is most acute in vulnerable low- and middle-income countries such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Haiti and Viet Nam.

From 2010-2020, Nigeria experienced a sharp rise in violence propagated by the jihadist group Boko Haram in the northeast region and escalating inter-group conflict between farmers and Fulani pastoralists in the north-central region. Boko Haram’s violent attacks led to states of emergency in both 2011 and 2013; and while that group has dominated the news, conflicts between Fulani pastoralists and settled agricultural communities are often more deadly.