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In developing regions like Africa south of the Sahara, a significant amount of food produced is lost during the pre-harvest, harvest, and post-harvest stages of the agricultural value chain. Such losses present a significant challenge for poverty reduction and food security because they both lower producers’ incomes and raise food prices for consumers. In addition, inefficiencies in the global food system, like food loss during production and processing, make that system much less environmentally sustainable by wasting scarce natural resources.

A series of reports from FEWS Net are reporting continued food insecurity in southern Africa, Ethiopia, and the Lake Chad region of Nigeria as a result of weather-related shocks and ongoing conflict.

This week, the FAO held its 29 th Regional Conference for Africa (ARC) in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The conference, a biennial event, provides a platform for policymakers and stakeholders to discuss agricultural development in the region, with the aim of promoting regional cooperation and coherent policies.

IFPRI’s 2016 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR) gives some good news for Africa – poverty and hunger both fell during the period 2003-2014. The share of the region’s population living on less than US$1.25 per day (purchasing power parity) declined from 42.9 percent to 36.9 percent, while the prevalence of malnourishment fell from 22.1 percent to 17 percent. Child stunting also fell from 40.2 percent to 35.9 percent.

Burkina Faso faces persistent high morbidity rates due to malaria, respiratory infections, malnutrition, diarrheic diseases, and HIV/AIDS, according to the country’s Ministry of Health. These health burdens can negatively impact the agricultural labor productivity of rural households by reducing both available labor and farming know-how.