Food Security

An estimated 73 million people in Africa faced acute levels of hunger and food insecurity in 2019, according to the 2020 Global Report on Food Crises, released this week. The continent accounted for 54 percent of the global total of severely food-insecure people. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread around the world, developing countries in the region will likely see even further disruptions to food access. These disruptions will compound existing food crises and potentially create new ones.

Africa’s food system has experienced rapid transformation in recent years, driven by widespread urbanization and increasing incomes. In addition, initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area have resulted in changes to market structure and functioning in an effort to spur regional trade and economic growth. These changes present new income-generating opportunities all along the agrifood value chain, from farmers to processors, traders, distributors, and the food service industry.

This post originally appeared on IFPRI.org blog .
By: Seneshaw Tamru, Kalle Hirvonen, and Bart Minten

This post originally appeared on IFPRI.org blog .
 

This post originally appeared on IFPRI.org .

By: Tsitsi Makombe and Julie Kurtz