Western Africa

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.

Malnutrition—including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight, obesity, and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs)—poses a staggering challenge to health, food security, and economic growth outcomes around the world. In Ghana, an estimated 256.1 million people experienced hunger and 240 million were undernourished in 2018. At the same time, rates of obesity and diet-related NCDs in the country have risen significantly—from just 10 percent of Ghanaian adults in 1993 to 40 percent in 2015.

Food insecurity is escalating in West Africa and the Sahel region, according to the latest Regional Report on Food Security and Nutrition in West Africa and the Sahel (RRSAN) from the Food Security Information Network (FSIN). Between June and August 2024, as many as 50 million people across 16 countries could face CH Phase 3 (Crisis) or above food insecurity.

Cocoa bean prices have been rising since the last quarter of 2023, hitting a record high of $10.97 per kilogram on April 19 (Figure 1). The price spike is due to a significant drop in bean production by major global suppliers—four key producing nations in West and Central Africa account for more than 60% of the world's supply of cocoa beans: Cote d’Ivoire (with 38% of the global production in 2022), Ghana (19%), Nigeria (5%), and Cameroon (5%).1

Despite some marginal improvements at the country level, Africa south of the Sahara remains mired in acute food insecurity and escalating food crises, according to the 2024 Global Report on Food Crisis (GRFC). Conflict, extreme weather events, economic shocks, and forced displacement continue to drive up rates of food insecurity and malnutrition throughout the region, with the outlook for 2024 equally grim.

Central and Southern Africa