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Africa south of the Sahara has continued to face alarmingly high levels of acute food insecurity in 2024, according to the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) Mid-Year Update. This includes populations in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe) food insecurity in Sudan, South Sudan, and Mali, with famine plausible in some areas of Sudan.

As in previous years and reported in the April release of the GRFC, conflict, extreme weather events, economic shocks, and forced displacement of large populations have driven worsening food and nutrition security outcomes across the continent.

More than 30 million people in southern Africa will need significant food aid through the upcoming lean season, according to a new report from FEWS Net. This represents an increase of 50 percent from the 2023-2024 lean season. Conflict and extreme weather are the major drivers of the region’s growing humanitarian needs.

 The latest Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor (AATM) indicates that intra-African agricultural trade has already reached a new high of US$ 17 billion, finally surpassing its previous 2013 peak, which was reached after a tripling of growth the decade prior. This recent surge, despite the disruptions and aftereffects of COVID-19, must be further accelerated through additional policy and infrastructure support, as well as intra-regional trade facilitation, argue the authors.

Reducing food loss and waste (FLW) is crucial to improving food security, reducing malnutrition, and providing livelihoods for food system workers. But such efforts are also key to combating climate change. FLW has significant environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in both the production of food that is later lost and in waste management.

As many as 440 million youths (defined as people under the age of 30) are expected to join Africa’s labor market by 2030. If the labor market cannot support this enormous population with adequate employment and livelihood opportunities, it poses serious threats to the region’s stability, economic development, and food security.